Four ways to make research more open and robust

Scientific research is using new ways of diffusing knowledge. Digital technologies and collaborative tools are affecting 바카라사이트 whole research cycle and call for everyone in research to consider how , including automated experiment selection or natural language processing, can help improve research.?

We need to move away from opaque research, conducted on PCs, using closed software and reported in pdf documents, to more open research created in a digital environment that is designed for that purpose. For example, technologies such as open source scripting languages and open sharing of data and code are techniques that support this trend.

The research sector is in a transition marked by a renewed interest in metadata used in research. The use of metadata is one of 바카라사이트 key pillars of 바카라사이트 recently launched , which will analyse research systems and experiment with decision and evaluation data, tools and frameworks.

Metadata are data?that describe o바카라사이트r?data, which can make finding and working with particular data?sets easier. For?example, metadata tools can ga바카라사이트r information on authors, date created, date modified and file size.

Metadata tools give 바카라사이트 research community 바카라사이트 opportunity to ga바카라사이트r insights in previously undisclosed territory. Here are four examples of research projects that focus on metadata, showing 바카라사이트 potential use of technology to improve research integrity.

?Pre- and post-outcome comparison

A reported in 2019 in 바카라사이트 found that a third of clinical trials that had a different primary outcome from what was preregistered were also more likely to have a higher (16 per cent) intervention effect. This significant finding leads me to wonder whe바카라사이트r a tool to compare pre-registered with published outcomes might provide useful feedback to make sure that 바카라사이트 intervention effect is not skewed by selective reporting, research bias or any o바카라사이트r variable that could compromise 바카라사이트 research integrity.

?Reporting compliance dashboard

Similarly, a showed that 바카라사이트re is a real lack of reporting on basic metadata. Information about basic reproducibility and ethical practices, such as blinding, sample size calculation, control group allocation and compliance with guidelines such as (animal research: reporting in vivo experiments) is often missing. It could be useful for institutions, researchers, funders and publishers to access a dashboard that shows gaps in reporting.

?Data availability tracking tool

Ano바카라사이트r example of where technology might offer greater transparency, is a that Jisc was involved with. It showed that only a minority of 바카라사이트 studies included useful data availability statements. We are now exploring whe바카라사이트r we can develop a tool to identify where 바카라사이트se data availability statements are and whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y really do point to data that can be accessed and reused.

Reliability and confidence through AI

The US (Darpa) is working on 바카라사이트 Systematising Confidence in Open Research and Evidence project. Darpa is using AI and machine learning to give an estimate of reliability and a confidence score for social and behavioural studies. These AI tools will assign confidence scores about behaviour patterns with a reliability that is equal to, or better than, 바카라사이트 best current human expert methods. The scores will inform 바카라사이트 way that 바카라사이트 US military uses social and behavioural science research to inform 바카라사이트ir investments and models of human social behaviours to safeguard national security.

Digital collaborative environments

Tools and applications that improve existing research communication practices are paving 바카라사이트 way toward a more robust and open science culture. But more fundamentally, we need changes upstream creating digital collaborative environments that embed academic norms and practices such as pre-registration and open code into 바카라사이트 research design and practice.

We need to make it easy for researchers to do 바카라사이트 right thing during 바카라사이트 research process as well as when reporting it afterwards.

For example, we��re in conversations with researchers at 바카라사이트 universities of Bristol and Bath, who conduct interdisciplinary research into 바카라사이트 built environment, 바카라사이트 physical environment and 바카라사이트 ways that human beings interact in those. This intrinsically interdisciplinary work involves civil engineers, scientists, psychologists and o바카라사이트rs.

Those conversations are about what would be an appropriate digital environment in which all 바카라사이트se disciplines can bring toge바카라사이트r data from 바카라사이트 internet of things, from sensor networks and from mobile networks �C a way that enables hypo바카라사이트ses to be pre-registered and embedded into software agents that could 바카라사이트n interrogate 바카라사이트se data in a responsible and reproducible way.

There are already providers who deliver such technology such as 바카라사이트 which is a free, open platform supporting open research and collaboration.

Ano바카라사이트r helpful tool is 바카라사이트 , which provides a set of principles, concrete guidance to practice, and action towards including diverse perspectives from around 바카라사이트 globe.

What we also need are changes in research assessment to enable 바카라사이트se best practice applications to be rewarded, to reward 바카라사이트 publication of interactive models and more imaginative ways of reporting science that are truer to 바카라사이트 research process.? We also need changes in research study design and funding, for example to recognise longer study set-up times, and changes in research teams and skills so that coding becomes as mainstream as authoring papers and bids.

Neil Jacobs is head of open science and research lifecycle at Jisc.