![\"John](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/highly-relevant\/files\/2018\/07\/John-Towse.jpg?resize=247%2C300\")
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Dr John Towse<\/a>\u00a0is a senior lecturer in the Psychology department.<\/a>\u00a0John’s work spans a number of research topics but includes: working memory, executive functions, mathematical cognition, cybercognition, human dimensions of cyber security and bibliometrics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I had the pleasure of meeting with John recently to discuss the important role that the the PROSPR Group<\/a> is playing in the psychology department and beyond!<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0What is the PROSPR Group?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0PROSPR stands for promoting open science practices and the idea is that we\u2019re a semi formal group that meet to try and help each other in developing open science ideas, open science practices and looking at opportunities to do good work in this space. It\u2019s a relatively new thing that\u2019s of growing interest in psychology generally.\u00a0 We describe ourselves in more detail on our website<\/a><\/p>\n Q:\u00a0How was it formed?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0It was formed in a number of ways but our staff members were interested, independently in a number of open science issues and we gradually began to realise that each of us were doing different things but they gelled together. In addition we also had some early career researchers and postgraduates that had begun to hear about open science and had gone on some workshops that were available or they\u2019d read up on these issues. So again, they were expressing interest in what this all meant. So we started talking to each other and then we started realising that we could make it all a bit more regular. My colleague Dermot Lynott<\/a> in the Department took the initiative of setting up and leading some meetings. We discussed contemporary papers both about questionable contemporary research practices and new ideas and then we eventually came up with a name for the group and our mailing list and our web presence and so it\u2019s developed from there.<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0What activities are the group engaged in and how do they link with research practices<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0We\u2019re actually engaged in quite a few different activities. One aspect of what we do is raising visibility of open science in psychology and so as a group of people who are excited and positive about some of the issues and opportunities for improved practices, innovative ideas and use of technology \u2013 we\u2019ve tried to spread the word. We\u2019ve done that in a number of ways. Some of us have gone to other universities and groups to talk about open science issues and indeed to talk about the PROSPR group.<\/p>\n For example, Neil McLatchie<\/a> has recently taken up an invitation to visit another institution to give a research seminar and explain what we did and how we did it and encourage them to set up a similar group, which we\u2019re glad to say, they have. Others of us have gone to talk about particular issues and ideas that we\u2019ve been working on and investing in to try to promote those. That\u2019s sometimes been done through the university.<\/p>\n Separately, David Ellis<\/a> has been advocating for good practices as a JISC data champion. These are just some examples of what all sorts of PROSPR members have been doing. Postgrads have discussed their enthusiasm for being involved in many-lab replications of key findings and so on.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve also been getting involved in some of the university wide initiative such as Data Conversations<\/a>. We\u2019ve happy to do that to come and learn and to talk about the work that we\u2019ve been doing.<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0How do the groups activities relate to the substantive work of psychology researchers?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0Increasingly they\u2019re playing an important role. One of the things for example that we\u2019ve discussed as a group, is the potential value in pre-registered studies as a method of doing science and indeed psychology. These slides<\/a> expand on the significance of this area as does this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n Several members of PROSPR have been pre-registering their work. They\u2019ve set up a research design, a plan to ask some scientific questions, but then they\u2019ve pre-registered it. This means that they\u2019ve outlined the design they will use and they have specified what analysis they intend to do with the data once it\u2019s collected. They\u2019ve said what the size of the data set they hope to collect is, what the stopping rule will be for collecting data and so on. Having done all of that preregistered work they\u2019ll then go out and do the experiment, following the protocol that they have specified in advance. They\u2019ll analyse the data primarily on the basis of what they said they would do in the pre-registered report. Any additional work they do, they then explicitly signal as being exploratory or non-planned work. Increasingly PROSPR members have been implementing pre-registration because they think it\u2019s a good way to do science. It\u2019s transparent and it\u2019s open.<\/p>\n Pre-registration has also been implemented by some researchers because certain journals have a pre-registration route to publication. So, the idea is that the journal will evaluate the pre-registered plans and will make a decision about whether they think that\u2019s the right experiment to be doing at that point in time and should lead to illuminating answers. In that case, they will give an in principal acceptance of publication before the data are collected. That means that you can collect the data, analyse it and write it up without feeling that the value to a journal is predicated on a particular answer or a particular significant result. Again, it works towards transparency and openness and avoiding file-draw problems<\/a>, and indeed other problems that are known to be out there in psychology and indeed science. This is an initiative that a number of people have been engaging in and what PROSPR members are finding is, that it\u2019s potentially a good way to do their work.<\/p>\n Q:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you think that similar initiatives (pre-registered studies) could be valuable for other disciplines?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0Yes I certainly do.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve personally been involved in some interdisciplinary projects with colleagues in other departments and disciplines and we\u2019ve thought about the value of doing some pre-registered studies there. So, I\u2019ve discussed with them how preregistration might work and why it would be good, in terms of transparency and setting out prediction in advance. Not only is this about these projects themselves, but also as an example of how this might work. There are a number of other disciplines that might find this of value. It should be said that psychology hasn\u2019t just developed this notion independently. The way that psychologists uses pre-registered studies draws from other fields and practices. It\u2019s not psychology specific, even though we often deal with noisy data and have many ways to analyse our findings. So, although psychology has a number of issues to do with the vagaries and the variabilities of data that make this worth thinking about, it\u2019s going to be meaningful in many sciences. We\u2019re not trying to impose it on other fields but it\u2019s something that\u2019s worth thinking about for other disciplines as an organic discussion.<\/p>\n Q:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you think that similar initiatives (the PROSPR group itself) could be valuable for other disciplines?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0Again, I think there are some really useful conversations to be had about some of the things that we\u2019ve been doing, as well as learning from others. So for example, PROSPR members have presented ideas in Lancaster data conversations and one of the things that we\u2019ve talked about is the experience of running an open access, free to publish journal for psychology, such as, the Journal of Numerical Cognition<\/a> and\u00a0 others within the Free Journal Network<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019ve tried to be open and honest about how that has worked and how one can build on that idea \u00a0to then offer a greater emphasis on providing data for Journal papers that are published. So, that\u2019s one thing that we\u2019ve talked about in PROSPR but I think that would also be relevant to other disciplines who would also find value in open access, free to publish journals.<\/p>\n To give you another example Dermot has contributed to the Data Conversations about the value of making data available and the many different and sometimes surprising ways that people can take up and reuse those data productively. He walked people through examples of a data journey and illustrated how data were being used in different ways. In other words, how making a data deposit had led to a whole variety of positive consequences from that research project and themselves led on to other funded research projects and so on. That story isn\u2019t one that\u2019s just confined to psychology. That was one of the reasons that he was keen to talk about it because again other disciplines will also have opportunities to make data available.<\/p>\n Hearing from people who\u2019ve done that and reflected on how those data were used by others in different ways\u2026 it then helped keep momentum going in asking some of the intellectual questions that surrounded those data. That\u2019s very useful to have. Just as it\u2019s been very useful in the data conversations to hear from people in other departments and working in other disciplines, talking about their own issues and then having the chance to reflect about how they apply to psychology too.<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0What can the university or the library more specifically do to support the PROSPR group?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0One of the things that PROSPR is very keen on is trying to promote a more open and transparent scientific landscape and that involves being able to deposit data. There are as we know, many different ways that can happen. The university repository<\/a> is one of those. So, you can deposit data within the university repository, that data can have its own DOI so that it can be cited and linked with research papers. And, that\u2019s a really good system to have available. There are a variety of reasons why people may be using another repository but having that available is a really good thing. We\u2019ve found this to be an important resource not only for research but also for teaching students about open science and open science practices. We can point to the university repository as an example of where data are being held – some of those data being psychological. And then we can invite students to look at that data, inspect it and to use it for their research development or their learning purposes to test their analytic skills and so on. Having that there is really useful. Having other repositories that can be used for other purposes is great but from a student perspective it makes it more distributed and so for students it\u2019s harder to know where to go or to how to keep track of where it might be.<\/p>\n Keeping the conversations going around open science and around data is also really useful. It\u2019s useful for us to be part of that wider university experience. In a whole variety of ways to have that support and positive drive towards considering innovations and ideas that might work is a really productive thing to have.<\/p>\n Q:<\/strong>\u00a0For your part as a leader in your field how important is it for you, that postgraduate students and early career researchers develop RDM skills at an early stage?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0For me, that\u2019s really important. In psychology as the landscape changes, what we want to do is to encourage students to see opportunities and positives in open science and the earlier that we can engage students in this the more natural it\u2019s going to be for them to think about this in a positive way. Not merely as a regulatory burden or bureaucracy. So it\u2019s also much easier for them to take on any ideas or initiatives that we have and see ways to make them happen.<\/p>\n One of the other projects that I\u2019ve been involved in with Rob Davies and a student Ben Gooding is to set a data portal for student\u2019s records<\/a>.<\/p>\n Initially this was conceived to be a master\u2019s level research project resource. That is, developing a system that allows masters students to engage in the process of data management \u2013 all the elements such as preparing for data depositing, coding their data, explaining it and so on. With support through different places in the university such as a Faculty Teaching Development Grant we\u2019ve been setting up this online system that displays student records and provides ways to access the data. This is part of a process of training students in data management. To introduce them to the advantages of data deposits in a controlled ecosystem \u2013 a safe space or sandbox – rather than in the institutional repository.<\/p>\n Allowing students to explore these issues and to see what others have done and think about what would work for them and their projects. So, what we\u2019ve doing there is to try and make our ideas of open science and ideas of transparency feed through to the curriculum, feed through to the student experience. What we would like is that from the fairly early stages the students get actively involved in what some of these open science ideas mean and they can explore some of the positive issues. And, explore some of the challenges too. Then that becomes part of their journey that means in the long term there will be a cohort of researchers that are not only familiar with issues of open science but familiar with practices as well and therefore will go out and develop their own perspectives and initiatives that are useful to the discipline.<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/highly-relevant\/files\/2018\/07\/Pre-registered-studies.png?resize=300%2C300\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/highly-relevant\/files\/2018\/01\/IMG_0367-e1516025827947-300x224.jpg?resize=300%2C224\")