Opening Doors to Open Science: A Welcome Kit Designed for Sharing

This blog is part of a 7-part series produced within the LIBER Cascading Grants project, part of LIBER’s participation in Knowledge Rights 21.

By Myriam Bastin, University of Liège Library (ORCID); Cécile Dohogne, University of Liège Library (ORCID); Sébastien Hoyas, Department for Research Support and Technology Transfer, University of Mons (ORCID); Maurane Raskinet, University of Liège Library (ORCID).

This blog is based on the report, “Opening Doors to Open Science: A Welcome Kit Designed for Sharing,” available on Zenodo: Read the Full Report on Zenodo

While Open Science creates great opportunities for more visibility, transparency and impact, it also brings challenges and additional demands for researchers. They are increasingly expected to understand early in their careers a growing number of practices and requirements related to Open Science, such as Open Access publishing, research data management, copyright issues, research integrity and funder requirements.

Doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and newly recruited staff are confronted with these issues very early on but may have little prior knowledge of these matters and no clear picture of the institutional resources available to support them. Moreover, they are at a key stage in the development of their research practices. The habits and skills they acquire during this early phase are likely to shape their future research behaviours. Providing clear and accessible guidance from the beginning therefore helps researchers adopt sound Open Science practices, facilitates compliance with institutional and funder requirements, and encourages a lasting culture of openness and transparency.

For academic libraries, this evolution creates both an opportunity and a challenge. Libraries have become key actors in supporting Open Science, but researchers often struggle to identify where to start, while support teams face growing demands for training, guidance and individual assistance. In this context, collaboration is not simply desirable: it is essential.

This conviction lies at the heart of the joint project developed by the University of Liège (ULiège) and the University of Mons (UMONS): the Open Science Welcome Kit. It contributes directly to Action 1 of the LIBER Action Plan, “OA-supporting services for a diversity of routes to Open Access”, by strengthening researchers’ ability to navigate and make use of the multiple Open Access pathways already supported by institutions such as ULiège and UMONS. More broadly, the initiative contributes to one of the overarching objectives of the LIBER Action Plan: reducing barriers that prevent researchers from accessing, sharing and reusing knowledge.

Why a Welcome Kit?

ULiège and UMONS share a long history of collaboration around ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography), the institutional repository originally developed at ULiège and later adopted by UMONS, together with a similar Open Access deposit mandate. Over the years, both institutions have developed extensive expertise in Open Access support, researcher training and Open Science advocacy. Despite the availability of numerous services, trainings and online resources, newcomers often felt overwhelmed by the volume and complexity of information available to them. While substantial resources already exist, many are detailed, institution-specific, or designed for users who already possess a basic understanding of Open Science. We identified a need for a different type of resource: something short, practical, visual and easy to understand. A resource that could act as an entry point and direct researchers towards the appropriate services and expertise.

For many researchers, Open Science is first encountered as a compliance requirement rather than as an opportunity to increase the visibility, accessibility and impact of their work. The Welcome Kit offers guidance and support by introducing newcomers to key concepts of Open Science while directing them towards appropriate institutional support services.

Challenges Encountered Along the Way

While the project was highly rewarding, it also brought up challenges. The first difficulty was finding the right balance between simplicity and accuracy. Open Science encompasses a wide range of topics, including Open Access routes, copyright issues, research data management, FAIR principles, research integrity and responsible publishing. Explaining these concepts accurately while keeping the content concise required numerous discussions and revisions.

The second challenge involved accommodating different institutional realities. Although ULiège and UMONS share many policies and practices through ORBi, every institution has its own support structures, internal procedures and communication channels. This led us to create a modular approach in which core content remains common while local information can be customised.

A third challenge was ensuring that the resource would not become one amongst many, hidden somewhere on a website. For this reason, dissemination became a central component of the project. The Kit is intended to be integrated into existing onboarding activities, doctoral training programmes, Open Science workshops, institutional websites and welcome packs for new researchers.

Finally, measuring the long-term impact of awareness-raising activities remains difficult. While indicators such as downloads, participation in training events and engagement with support services can provide useful evidence, we must keep in mind that changes in Open Science practices are influenced by many factors beyond the Welcome Kit itself.

Reusable by Design

From the beginning, our ambition went beyond creating a local onboarding resource. The Open Science Welcome Kit was designed as a modular and adaptable framework. Each thematic factsheet combines generic Open Science information with space for institution-specific content such as local services, training opportunities, repositories and support contacts. This structure allows other institutions to easily modify and reuse the material without having to start from scratch.

This principle of reuse is particularly important in an environment where research support teams often face increasing workloads and limited resources. If libraries can build on existing materials rather than recreating them, time and expertise can be redirected towards supporting researchers more effectively.

The final kit and all materials will be available in an open format under a Creative Commons CC BY licence, accompanied by documentation explaining how to adapt and implement the resource in different institutional contexts.

The Value of Collaboration

Many research libraries invest time and effort into creating awareness materials, training supports and guidance documents that ultimately address very similar needs. While institutional contexts differ, the challenges faced by researchers are often remarkably alike. Rather than developing separate materials
independently, ULiège and UMONS decided to pool their expertise, existing documentation, training experience and feedback from researchers.

This collaborative model avoids duplication of effort and leads to more consistent messaging, more efficient use of staff time, higher-quality outputs and broader dissemination opportunities than could typically be achieved through isolated institutional initiatives. Together, we were able to create a resource more efficiently than either institution could have done alone. More importantly, this approach reflects one of the core principles of Open Science itself: sharing knowledge and resources for the benefit of the wider community.

Through LIBER’s dissemination channels, we hope to encourage other research libraries and institutions to reuse, adapt and improve the resource.

Ultimately, this project demonstrates that even relatively small-scale collaborative initiatives can contribute to Open Science by transforming broad principles into practical tools that researchers can use from day one.