Partnering with the Health Research Board (HRB) to support their researcher community: an F1000 case study
The Health Research Board (HRB) is Ireland’s leading funding agency supporting innovative health research and delivering data and evidence that improves people’s health and patient care.
The agency is committed to putting people first, and ensuring data and evidence are used in policy and practice to overcome health challenges, advance health systems, and benefit society and the economy.
The challenge: supporting a changing research community
The 21st century researcher faces many challenges, including publication pressure, the changing professional environment, and hyper competition. That is why it is essential we consider different approaches to support the research community through their publishing journey. The HRB recognizes that high-quality research needs a supportive and enabling environment in which to thrive, and in 2018 invested in an open publishing Platform. By providing HRB-funded researchers with the freedom to rapidly publish all aspects of their research outputs, they enable greater recognition for authors and help advance high-quality health research that solves societal challenges.
“The open access model and transparent processes used by HRB Open Research are embedding open publishing in the Irish research system. F1000 has helped us to recognise, reward and incentivise good research and research practices amongst our funded researchers.”
– Patricia Clarke, Programme Manager, Health Research Board, Ireland
F1000 fosters a culture of innovation to create high-quality, open research publication venues that meet diverse researchers’ needs. That’s why HRB partnered with F1000 to launch HRB Open Research – a Platform for HRB-funded researchers to publish all facets of their research transparently and at pace.
The solution: HRB Open Research
The launch of HRB Open Research signalled HRB’s commitment to supporting their community through open publishing and new opportunities for researchers to diversify their research outputs and get the recognition they deserve.
Helping authors tell the full story of their research
HRB Open Research publishes different article types across a wide range of scientific, academic, and clinical disciplines funded or co-funded by HRB.
By publishing a wider range of outputs, HRB-funded researchers can benefit from increased discoverability, leading to greater impact and recognition. For instance, some researchers may choose to publish a Study Protocol before their project begins and a Research Article once complete. Others may take advantage of our more unique article types, including Software Tool Articles, or one of 10 other available options. By allowing researchers to publish at every stage of the research lifecycle, researchers can receive recognition for all aspects of their work.
Furthermore, researchers have the freedom to choose the format that best suits their research story and findings. For example, Data Notes allow authors to share valuable contextual information about original research datasets in a highly discoverable way, enabling other researchers to find, access, use (and-reuse) the data, either to reproduce the original results or to support new research in a related field.
Supporting researchers from niche subject areas
HRB Open Research further drives impact by showcasing the broad portfolio of high-quality research that the HRB funds through themed portals, known as Gateways and Collections. These dedicated hubs are led by expert advisors and enable users to find research from specific fields quickly and easily. Gateways and Collections also present new opportunities for authors of niche and developing subject areas to establish resolute research outlets.
HRB Open Research PPI Collection
Over the last few years Ireland has experienced significant shifts towards the advancement of public and patient involvement (PPI). With 16 articles published, the HRB Open Research PPI collection highlights the growing evidence that PPI is being adopted and advanced in Ireland.
HRB Primary Care CTNI Gateway
Most recently, F1000 partnered with HRB Primary Care Clinical Trials Network Ireland to launch the HRB Primary Care CTNI Gateway. This new Gateway serves as a hub for all HRB-funded outputs submitted by the Network on HRB Open Research. The Network brings together researchers, patients, the public, and healthcare professionals, to improve individual patient health and health care through high-quality, internationally recognized, randomized trials in Irish primary care. In mere months, 7 articles have already been published in the Gateway, demonstrating the need for such a content hub.
The results: leading the way
A Platform powered by F1000 has enabled the Health Research Board to become a leader in open research. HRB Open Research is the #1 publication venue for HRB-funded researchers for the fourth year in a row.
Impactful publishing
HRB Open Research has demonstrated itself to be a credible outlet for HRB-funded researchers and a reliable source of high-quality information. Since launch, the Platform has:
- Published 300+ articles
- Published 700+ peer review reports
- Achieved 157,000 article views
- Received 500+ citations
Open to all researchers
Researchers from diverse backgrounds and career stages chose to publish with HRB Open Research for its dedication to transparent, accessible, and reproducible practices. Since launching in 2018, the Platform has published work in collaboration with:
Publishing at pace
By taking an innovative approach to publishing and allowing researchers to publish prior to peer review, authors benefit from rapid publication. As a result, everyone, including decision makers in policy and practice, can view the latest findings in real-time, helping the Health Research Board achieve their goal of providing information that informs decisions about health care.
Looking ahead
There were many contributing factors that led to HRB Open Research being the most used publishing venue for HRB-funded researchers for the fourth year in a row.
The future for HRB Open Research is bright.
As evidenced, F1000’s trailblazing publishing model can help empower researchers, advance knowledge, and engage society. We partner with research organizations that want to do things differently.
If you would like to discuss your organization’s publishing goals book a consultation today.