Lessons Learned in the UK from Navigating the FAIR Open Science World: A Collaborative Approach Leveraging the CRIS for Transforming Scholarly Communications

Abstract

As advocates of Open Science, we recognize the need for a comprehensive solution to manage the diverse spectrum of research outputs. This solution must seamlessly weave through researchers' workflows, lifting the burden from library and research administrators drowning in a sea of Excel spreadsheets and email correspondence. It must also confront the formidable challenge of managing Open Access expenditure alongside subscriptions.

Initially turning to Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) as a potential savior, we found them not sufficiently adopted by our researchers. The outdated user experience and extensive manual work required from faculty and administrators posed challenges. Moreover, the CRIS did not address the explicit Open Access and Open Science challenges, including managing Article Processing Charges (APCs), OA agreements, deposits of research datasets, or compliance with funding policies like Plan S.

To tackle these evolving challenges, we adopted a collaborative strategy, uniting forces within the university and forging alliances with international partners to construct a sustainable infrastructure. This collaborative effort builds bridges across diverse stakeholders, integrating systems and workflows while embracing the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Identifiable and Reusable) principles as the bedrock for automation. Our case study highlights connecting our CRIS (Pure) with ChronosHub as a layer on top of our internal and external systems at Lancaster University.