Open Science Blog

Hand eczema is a common skin disease with a one-year prevalence of up to 10% and a long-lasting negative impact on quality of life. Both endogenous and exogenous factors play a role in the pathogenesis of hand eczema.

In the case study presented here we use a collaborative method to improve data analysis and research outcomes by engaging and involving children of the public. Several activities made the outputs of our research more (and freely) accessible for both academics (by open access publishing) and the public (through videos, an interview and poster presentation on the international iCAN conference by young people).

We believe this ‘main versus alternatives analysis’ structure makes the results easier to interpret for readers because it provides a baseline, while still providing as much information we can to improve future analyses using similar data.

At times, I feel quite content with my own open research practices. Yet I doubt whether I would call myself an open research practitioner. I might be doing it, but what if I’m doing it for the wrong reasons?

Each month, the library’s open access team puts an Open Access publication by a UG author in the spotlight. The article of October 2020 is "The financial impact of fossil fuel divestment," co-authored by Auke Plantinga and Bert Scholtens

Mass media are an important and effective channel for disseminating medical news. Unfortunately, messages often contain, intentionally or not, exaggerated claims that are not supported by the research itself. However, journalist are not always the ones to blame, and scientists themselves have an opportunity — and a responsibility — to improve the communication about their research. In this case study, I describe the challenges and difficulties that I encountered while trying to present the results of research on a sensitive topic: side effects of oral contraceptives.

My experience with open research practices centres on the task of translating the ‘grand’ research questions and hypotheses from a grant proposal, to the ‘specific’, testable questions for an analysis plan. A large portion of my PhD trajectory has been dedicated to collecting data that was designed to answer a particular research question: Can we find early warning signals before symptom improvements in depression?

My journey towards open science began as a Master student. I participated in the course Transparency in Science and learned about questionable research practices, non-reproducible, and nonreplicable research findings. Majoring in clinical psychology, this made me especially concerned about the impact on validity of treatment recommendations.