Yes / Preregistration is the practice of publicly publishing plans on central components of the research process before access to, or collection, of data. Within the context of the replication crisis, open science practices like preregistration have been pivotal in facilitating greater transparency in research. However, such practices have been applied nearly exclusively to basic academic research, with rare consideration of the relevance to applied and consultancy-based research. This is particularly problematic as such research is typically reported with very low levels of transparency and accountability despite being disseminated as influential grey literature to inform practice. Evidence-based practice is best served by an appreciation of multiple sources of quality evidence, thus the current review considers the potential of preregistration to improve both the accessibility and credibility of applied research towards more rigorous evidence-based practice. The current three-part review outlines, first, the opportunities of preregistration for applied research, and second, three barriers - practical challenges, stakeholder roles, and the suitability of preregistration. Last, this review makes four recommendations to overcome these barriers and maximise the opportunities of preregistration for academics, industry, and the structures they are held within - changes to preregistration templates, new types of templates, education and training, and recognition and structural changes.

Virtual reality (VR) technology has permeated consumer culture in recent years, consequentially inspiring a hotbed of interdisciplinary academic VR research to better understand its effects as a medium. It has become a popular subject of study in fields as varied as engineering, computer science, communication, and psychology. The present study evaluates methodological trends in behavioral research on VR in terms of best practices regarding data collection, reporting, and availability. A meta-scientific content analysis of 61 articles focused on power, p-values, reporting errors, and transparency of data, all of which respectively represent four stages of research: data collection, analysis, reporting, and sharing. The findings from 1,122 statistical tests show that there is room for improvement in much behavioral research on VR in terms of methodological trends regarding number of participants, reporting of results, and data availability. Although no firm conclusions can be drawn about the presence of p-hacking or other questionable research practices (QRPs), the present study demonstrates that chronically small sample sizes, instances of errors in reporting, and a lack of transparent supplemental data are evident. The trends observed are broad, yet informative, and further research in this area is crucial. Methodological recommendations are made for future research dealing with VR applications, particularly given the potential social and cultural impact of the technology. / Master of Arts / Virtual reality (VR) technology has permeated consumer culture in recent years, consequentially inspiring many researchers to study VR in order to better understand its effects as a medium. It has become a popular subject of study in fields as varied as engineering, computer science, communication, and psychology. This study evaluates how VR research is being conducted in these fields in terms of best practices to ensure valid and conclusive interpretation of data. The findings from 1,122 statistical tests across 61 articles show that in several stages of the research process—data collection, analysis, reporting, and sharing—there is evidence that there is room for improvement in much behavioral research on VR in terms of methodological trends regarding number of participants, reporting of results, and data availability. Although these findings are broad and cannot be used to draw firm conclusions about specific VR studies, if they are confirmed and further explained in future research, they could bring into question the validity and credibility of much of the published VR research that exists today. Methodological recommendations are made for future research dealing with VR applications, particularly given the potential social and cultural impact of the technology.

Dans cette thèse, nous proposons de nouvelles approches et processus de conception pour créer et produire des plates-formes robotiques dont le contrôle et la morphologie peuvent être explorés et expérimentés librement dans le monde réel, tout en assurant une dissémination directe dans le milieu académique. Ainsi cette thèse adresse deux questions fondamentales dans le processus de recherche scientifique en robotique:1. Comment peut on étudier systématiquement et efficacement l’impact des propriétés morphologiques du corps d’un robot humanoïde pour l’acquisition et le contrôle de savoir-faire sensorimoteurs, ainsi que de capacités d’interactions physiques et sociales avec l’humain ?2. Comment peut on produire des contributions scientifiques en robotique qui soient réellement reproductibles et directement réutilisables, tout en exposant les moindres détails des expérimentations ? Ainsi notre approche propose de nouvelles méthodes de conception et de production, et ce, pour tous les aspects technologiques d’un robot (mécanique, actionneur,électronique, logiciels, distribution). En particulier, ces méthodes reposent sur l’impression 3D pour toutes les pièces mécaniques, un environnement Arduino pour l’acquisition des capteurs, une bibliothèque Python appelée pypot pour le contrôle proposant un API intuitive et enfin la distribution de tout notre travail sous des licences open source.En utilisant cette méthodologie, nous avons créé le robot Humanoïde Poppy, un robotlow-cost, entièrement modulaire et imprimé en 3D. Ce robot est diffusé sous licence open source et tous les fichiers sont facilement accessibles sur le dépôt GitHub du projet: https://www.github.com/poppy_project/.Nous expérimentons l’utilisation de ce robot pour plusieurs applications. Tout d’abord, comme un outil scientifique où nous montrons que Poppy peut être facilement et rapidement modifié, que ce soit pour explorer le rôle de la morphologie ou pour être adaptés à différentes configurations expérimentales. Basé sur ce travail, mais d’un autre point de vue, nous étudions aussi l’impact potentiel d’une telle plate-forme pour des applications éducatives et artistiques. / This thesis suggests novel approaches and design processes to create and produce robotic platforms, the control and morphology of which can be freely explored through experimentation in the real world, that are easy to diffuse and reproduce in the research community. Especially, this alternative design methodology is driven by the desire to:• freely explore morphological properties,• reduce the amount of time required between an idea and its experimentation on an actual robotic platform in the real world,• makes experiments that should be easy to do, actually easy to do,• make the work easily reproducible in any other lab,• keep the work modular and free to use in accordance with open source principles,so it can be reused and extended for other projects.Our approach follows novel design methods for both design and production, for all technological aspects of the robot (i.e. mechanics, actuation, electronics, software,distribution). In particular these methods relies on 3D printing for all mechanical parts, the Arduino electronic architecture for the sensors acquisition, an easy to use Python API called pypot for the control and finally the distribution of all our work under open source licenses. Using this methodology, we create the Poppy Humanoid robot, a fully modular robot allowing exploring freely the role of morphology and adapting its body to specific experimental setup. This robot has been released under open source license and all files are easily accessible on the GitHub repository: https://www.github.com/poppy_project/. We experiment the use of this robot for several applications. First, as a scientific tool and we show that Poppy can be easily and quickly modified to either explore the role of morphology or to be adapted to different experimental setups. Based on this work, but from another perspective we investigate the potential impact of such platform for educational and artistic applications.

Angesichts des stetig wachsenden Wettbewerbs um Studierende, wissenschaftliches Personal und Forschungsförderung, steigender Berichtspflichten, Transfer- und Transparenzbestrebungen plant die TU Bergakademie Freiberg, ein modernes Forschungsinformationsmanagement umzusetzen. Das Rektorat hat daher die Einführung eines Forschungsinformationssystems (FIS) beschlossen, das die aktuell dezentral vorliegenden Informationen zu den zahlreichen Forschungsaktivitäten und -ergebnissen der Freiberger Wissenschaftler:innen nutzbringend zusammenführt und die Basis für eine transparente Außendarstellung schafft. Zum Einführungsprojekt 'FIS@TUBAF', das von der Universitätsbibliothek koordiniert wird, fand am 12.07.2023 eine erste Informationsveranstaltung statt. Aus diesem Anlass widmen wir die August-Ausgabe des Open-Science-Snacks dem Thema 'Forschungsinformationssysteme im Kontext von Open Science'.

Background: Despite the high prevalence of ADHD, results of research on persistence rates remain scattered. Previous studies identify methodological limitations resulting in various developmental trajectories of ADHD symptoms. Methods: The aim of this scoping review is to provide an overview of the litterature on ADHD symptom persistence in young people (<25 years) with a focus on measurement assessment by QUADAS-2 and gender differences. Results: The results confirm heterogeneity both within studies regarding quality of measurements but also between studies regarding methodological choices. While this review indicates some diagnostic stability within the samples, mainly in studies with lower risk of bias, it also demonstrates symptom change with age. However, the confidence in these results is greatly limited by risk of bias. Discussion: It is questionable whether ADHD trajectories would be considered quite so heterogeneous if methods of assessing the condition were more homogeneous. Future research within the field is in great need of standardized methods and reporting standards. / Bakgrund: Trots ADHD:s höga prevalens så pekar forskning avseende symtomens varaktighet på spridda resultat. Tidigare studier föreslår metodologiska begränsningar som resulterat i olika utvecklingsförlopp för ADHD symptom. Metod: Denna översikt syftar till att kartlägga litteraturen gällande varaktigheten av ADHD symptom för unga upp till 25 år, med fokus på bedömning av mätningarna med QUADAS-2 och att undersöka könsskillnader. Resultat: Resultaten bekräftar heterogeniteten både inom studier avseende kvaliteten på mätningarna och mellan studier avseende metodologiska val. Översikten indikerar en viss diagnostisk stabilitet inom urvalen, i huvudsak för studier med lägre risk of bias, men även förändringar i symptom med ålder. Tilliten till dessa resultat är dock i hög grad begränsad av risk för bias. Diskussion: Det kan ifrågasättas om utvecklingsförloppet för ADHD skulle anses vara lika heterogent om metoderna för bedömning skulle vara mer homogena. Framtida forskning inom området är i behov av både standardiserade metoder och förbättrad rapporteringsstandard.

Im Rahmen des Open-Science-Workshops des Sonderforschungsbereiches Hybrid Societies am 10. Februar 2022, stellte das Open Science Team der Universitätsbibliothek umfangreiche Services zum Open-Access-Publizieren vor. Dazu gehören: 1. Der Aufbau und Betrieb von Infrastrukturen zur Veröffentlichung auf dem Goldenen und Grünen Weg des Open Access 2. Die Bereitstellung finanzieller Mittel zur Unterstützung bei der Publikation von Artikeln und Monographien - in 2022 können erstmals Open-Access-Monographien über den Publikationsfonds gefördert werden. 3. Durchführung von Beratungen, Schulungen und Workshops - der Schwerpunkt liegt in der Beratung der Wissenschaffenden, u.a. zur Qualität von Publikationsangeboten. 4. Netzwerken innerhalb und außerhalb der TU Chemnitz im Bereich Open Science. Alle Dienstleistungen richten sich insbesondere auch an Nachwuchswissenschaftler und Wissenschaftlerinnen. / During the Open Science Workshop of the Collaborative Research Centre Hybrid Societies on 10 February 2022, the Open Science Team of the University Library presented comprehensive services for Open Access publishing. These include: 1. the establishment and operation of infrastructures for publishing on the Golden and Green Paths of Open Access. 2. the provision of financial resources to support the publication of articles and monographs - in 2022, OA monographs can be supported for the first time via the publication fund. 3. carrying out consultations, training and workshops - the focus is on advising knowledge workers, among other things on the quality of publication offerings. 4. networking within and outside the TU Chemnitz in the area of Open Science. All services are also aimed in particular at young researchers and scientists.

Die Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg verfolgt das Ziel, die Forschungsleistungen ihrer Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler sichtbar und zugänglich zu machen und die Verwertbarkeit dieser Leistungen für den künftigen Forschungsprozess sicherzustellen. Sie ist bestrebt, diese an der Hochschule erbrachten Forschungsleistungen, die sich ganz besonders in Form von Publikationen und der Häufigkeit ihrer Zitierungen zeigen, zur Geltung zu bringen. Dazu ist eine eindeutige Zuordnung der Forschenden zu den Publikationen, an denen sie mitgewirkt haben, sowie zu ihrer Hochschule (Affiliation) notwendig. Eine erhöhte Sichtbarkeit von Publikationen und die transparente Bewertung der damit verbundenen Forschungsleistung ermöglicht zugleich eine angemessene Qualitätssicherung. Diese ist sowohl für die Forschenden als auch für die Hochschule im nationalen und internationalen Vergleich sowie im Wettbewerb um Forschungsförderung und Kooperationspartner von besonderer Bedeutung.

The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF) aims to make the research achievements of its academics visible and accessible and to ensure the usability of these achievements for the future research process. It endeavors to showcase the research achievements of the university, which are particularly evident in the form of publications and the frequency of their citations. This requires researchers to be clearly assigned to the publications they have contributed to and to their university (affiliation). Increased visibility of publications and transparent assessment of the associated research performance also facilitates appropriate quality assurance. This is of particular importance both for the researchers and for the university in national and international comparison as well as in the competition for research funding and cooperation partners.

The ‘Specialised Information Service Benelux / Low Countries Studies’ (FID Benelux) of Münster University and State Library (ULB Münster) is one of at present 41 ‘Specialised Information Services’ (FID) funded by the German Research Foundation. Founded in 2016, the FID Benelux is designed as a one-stop provider of specialised literature and research-specific information about the culture and society of the Benelux countries as well as research supportive services. This article illustrates by means of various examples that the FID Benelux not only deals with border regions and crossing boundaries in the territorial-spatial area, but that it also focuses on the socio-spatial boundary area between scholars and research infrastructures. In this context, aspects such as (cross-border) networking with scholars, research groups and research infrastructures play just as important a role as for instance boundary spanning and knowledge exchange across organisational boundaries in the field of research data management. Last but not least, the ‘Bibliography of Benelux Borderlands Histories’, a current FID-project also dedicated to the topic of borders and boundaries, is presented.

This thesis explores new forms of scholarly communication and the practice of open science among UK based academics. Open science broadly refers to practices that allow cost-free open access to academic research. Three aspects of open science are examined in this study: open access to research articles; open access to research data; and publishing ongoing research updates using social media. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining a series of scoping studies using qualitative methods followed up by an Internet survey of 1,829 UK academics. Overall this thesis has shown that whilst there is support for open science, the use of open science by academics was limited. Many academics were not aware of RCUK's open access policy and had limited experience of making their research articles freely accessible online. Most academics did not share their primary research data online. Although some academics had used a range of social media tools to communicate their research, the majority had not used social media in their research work. Overall, male, older and senior academics were more likely to use open access publishing and share primary research data, but were less likely to use social media for research. Academics based in Medical and Natural Sciences were more likely to use open access publishing and share research data, but less likely to use social media for their research compared to academics from Humanities and Social Sciences. Academics who were aware of RCUK's open access policy and who recognised the citation advantages of open access were more likely to publish in open access journals. Academics that were aware of RCUK's open access policy and had used social media for research were more likely to self-archive research articles. Academics that had used secondary data collected by others and self-archived research papers were more likely to share their own primary research data. Academics seemed to be strongly influenced by their colleagues' recommendation for the adoption of social media in research. Those who considered that the general public should know about their research findings were more likely to share their research on social media. A group of academics were identified and described as super users who frequently communicated ongoing research on social media. These super users were more likely to use tablet computers and have received social media training organised by their institutions. It is clear that open science is going to be a major factor in future academic work and in relation to building an academic career. Many academics have recognised the importance of open science. However to date the use of the tools for open science has been limited. With the right guidance and reinforcement of relevant policies, the new forms of scholarly communication can provide a pathway to open science which would serve to benefit individual academics, research communities and the public good.