open research across the University

Scott Collard of NYU Libraries organized an interdisciplinary panel across all of NYU today to discuss open research. I often talk about “open science”, but this discussion was explicitly to cover the humanities as well. We talked about the different cultures in different fields, and the roles of funding agencies, universities, member societies, journals, and so on. One idea that I liked from the conversation was that participants should try to ask what they can do from their position and not try to ask what other people should do from theirs. We had recommendations for making modifications to NYU promotion and tenure, putting open-research considerations into annual merit review, and asking the Departments to think about how, in their field, they could move to the most open edge of what's acceptable and conventional. Another great idea is that open research is directly connected to ideas of inclusion and equity, especially when research is viewed globally. That's important.