Open research is the practice of making research openly accessible online, without restrictions or cost. It encompasses every part of the research process, from the raw data collected to the final published output. This allows research to be more visible, more impactful, and more transparent.

As stated in the Strathclyde 2030 strategic plan, the university is working towards fully open access publishing and open research data. This work is overseen by the library’s Scholarly Publications and Research Data (SPRD) team, in partnership with Research & Knowledge Exchange Services (RKES).

The main areas of focus for SPRD comprise open access, research data management and support for open research tools, such as persistent identifiers, which make it easier for researchers’ work to be openly shared and properly cited.