Integrating open science education into an undergraduate health professional research program

Abstract

Objective: Open science (OS) is a global movement focused on improving research equity, reproducibility, and transparency of research outputs in publicly funded research. This paper describes how a librarian collaborated with teaching faculty and a research program coordinator to integrate an OS curriculum into an undergraduate professional practice course and assess students’ perceptions of OS after participating.

Methods: A librarian developed an OS-specific curriculum for an undergraduate professional practice course in Nutrition. This course is part of the First Year Research Experience (FYRE) program, which is integrated into 13-week undergraduate courses to introduce students to core elements of the research process in their first year of study by carrying out a research project. The OS curriculum included an Introduction to OS class, a requirement that students share their research outputs in the Open Science Framework, and an assignment asking students to reflect on their experience learning about and practicing OS. Twenty-one of 30 students consented to having their reflection assignment undergo thematic analysis.

Results: Students indicated transparency, accountability, accessibility to research outputs, and increased efficiency as positive attributes of OS. The time commitment, fear of being scooped, and concerns over having research be misinterpreted were considered negative attributes. 90% (n=19) of students indicated that they intend to practice OS in the future.

Conclusion: Based on strong engagement from the students, we believe that this OS curriculum could be adapted to other undergraduate or graduate student contexts where a research project is required.