Open Science Online Course

Responsible sharing of research findings

It's natural to want to share your findings with broader audience, when conducting research. Sharing your results can enhance your visibility within your field, potentially leading to more citations, a stronger reputation and career advancement. Additionally, by disseminating your findings, you contribute to the collective knowledge of other researchers in your area. Therefore, sharing is a crucial aspect of the research process and should be done responsibly. Responsible sharing involves understanding what, where and how to share your results, as publication requirements can vary. If there is nothing mentioned in the publishing agreement, see the publisher's policy about article sharing and open access publishing.

Before sharing your article anywhere, consider the following aspects:

• Does the publication agreement permit scholarly sharing, including on social media?
• Which version of your article is allowed for sharing? Pre-print, final draft or publisher´s final version?
• Where can the article be shared? Is it limited to the author's personal webpage, departmental webpage, or institutional repository? Is it restricted to non-commercial sites only?
• Is there an embargo period before the article can be shared?

The terms and conditions for responsible sharing can also be found from Sherpa/RoMEO -service.

Be especially careful when sharing your articles on social media platforms, such as ResearchGate. Sharing is often prohibited on commercial platforms, and ResearchGate is considered a commercial platform.

Licensing with Creative Commons

LUT recommends that our researchers share their work under a Creative Commons license.  

Creative Commons (CC) licenses offer several benefits to researchers, making them a valuable tool for sharing and disseminating your work. CC licenses help researchers maximize the reach and impact of their work while providing clear guidelines for how others can engage with and build upon it.

• Increased Accessibility: CC licenses make it easier for others to access and use research outputs. By specifying how others can use your work, you can ensure your work is more widely available and discoverable.
• Enhanced Visibility: Using a CC license can increase the visibility and impact of a researcher’s work. Openly licensed content is more likely to be shared, cited, and used in subsequent research, potentially leading to greater recognition and impact.
• Clear Usage Permissions: CC licenses provide clear, standardized terms for how others can use, share, and build upon the work. This can reduce confusion and legal disputes over intellectual property rights.
• Encourages Collaboration: By openly sharing your work, you can foster collaboration and partnerships with others in your field or related fields. This can lead to new insights, innovations, and advancements.
• Supports Open Science: CC licenses align with the principles of open science, which promotes transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility in research. Adopting CC licenses contributes to the broader movement toward more open and inclusive scientific practices.
• Compliance with Funders’ Requirements: Many funding agencies and institutions now require research outputs to be openly accessible. Using a CC license can help researchers comply with these requirements and fulfill their obligations to funders.
• Attribution and Credit: CC licenses, particularly the Attribution (BY) license, ensure that researchers receive proper credit for their work. The license terms typically require that users give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
• Flexibility: CC licenses offer various options, from allowing any use with attribution (CC BY) to more restrictive terms (e.g., non-commercial use only). Researchers can choose a license that best fits their preferences and goals for sharing their work.