Training

We offer a wide range of training courses for University of Reading researchers on the following:

Managing Your Digital Researcher Profile – this 1-1 session is for researchers who want to manage their digital identity.
Introduction to Altmetric Explorer – for anyone interested in tracking media attention to research publications.
Introduction to Bibliometrics – for researchers interested in using journal metrics as part of a publication strategy.
UKRI Open Access policy for journal articles – for researchers who need to comply with UKRI Open Access policies.
UKRI Open Access policy for books, chapters and edited collections – for researchers needing to comply with UKRI policies.
Introduction to SciVal Research Intelligence Tool – for staff involved in conducting, supporting or monitoring research outputs.
CentAUR and Open Access Surgery – this 1-1 session is for researchers and those supporting them.
ORCiD Identifiers – What are they and why do I need one? – for academic staff involved in research.
Open Access at Reading – all you need to know – for new research staff including early career researchers, or for those needing a general overview.
Paying to publish Gold Open Access journal articles – for anyone needing to secure Open Access funding.
Introduction to Open Research – for anyone who wants to know more about Open Research.
Writing a Data Management Plan – this session offers practical guidance on developing and using a DMP.
Research Data Management: An Introduction – this course introduces researchers to the general principles and practices of research data management.

Research staff, for course details and to book, please go to UoRLearn. We have also provided course descriptions below.

We offer a similar range of courses for graduate students. For course details and to book, please see the Reading Researcher Development Programme page.

Managing Your Digital Researcher Profile (1-1 Sessions)

Tracking the impact and reach of your research outputs is much easier if you have a consistent digital identity. Give your digital identity a health check by looking at your Google Scholar, ResearcherID, Scopus Author ID and ORCiD profiles. In these one-to one sessions you can check which researcher identifiers you already have, which ones you might need and ensure that your research outputs are correctly attributed to you.

These sessions can include: setting up and/or checking your Google Scholar account; setting up and/or checking your ResearcherID, Scopus Author ID, ORCiD ID; checking that your publications are correctly attributed to you in bibliographic databases.

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

Introduction to Altmetric Explorer

Who is it for?
Primarily research-related staff but also anyone interested in tracking media attention to research publications.

Brief description of course:
Altmetric Explorer helps you track mentions to research outputs from Twitter, Facebook, news outlets, Wikipedia, Mendeley and lots of other ‘alternative’ sources. This hands-on session will show you how to use the tool to investigate and analyse the reach and impact of your research. You will find out about the background and rationale for altmetrics, understand how to interpret the Altmetric ‘donut’, know how to track media attention to research publications, find out who is saving your publications in Mendeley, and discover how you could use Altmetric data in grant applications, CVs, and impact statements.

Following the session you will be able to:

Understand the background and rationale for Altmetrics
Understand what the Altmetric ‘donut’ means
Track media attention to research publications
Find out who’s saving your publications in Mendeley
Understand how you could use Altmetric data in grant applications, CVs, and impact statements.

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

Introduction to Bibliometrics

Who is it for?
Researchers who are interested in looking at the citation patterns of research outputs and/or using journal metrics as part of a publication strategy.

Brief description of course:
Bibliometric data are increasingly used in research assessment exercises and in recruitment decisions but they can also give you insights into how your research is being used by others and help you to make informed journal choices. This session will introduce some commonly used bibliometrics and explain how they are calculated and what they mean. The issues behind the responsible use of metrics will also be explored. A hands-on section of the session will use tools such as Scopus, SciVal, Google Scholar and InCites to explore bibliometric data sources. This is a 90 minute session however the last 30 minutes will be allocated for hands on tasks.

Following the session you will be able to:

Appreciate the responsible use of metrics
Understand the metrics used in the ROSS process at Reading University
Understand journal- and article-level metrics such as citation counts, SJR, SNIP, JIF, IPP and FWCI
Know where to find bibliometric data relating to your or your research division’s publications.
Use bibliometrics to help with journal choices

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

UKRI Open Access Policy for Journal Articles

If you are a UKRI funded author your journal articles must be Open Access with a CCBY licence immediately on publication and without embargo, via CentAUR (green Open Access) or published gold Open Access on the publisher’s website. This policy applies to all peer reviewed articles submitted for publication since April 2022. In this short briefing we will help you to:

Check whether a journal is compliant before you submit to it
Use look-up tools, including the journal checker and SciFree
Add a CCBY licence statement to your article when you submit it
Apply to the UKRI block grant to cover Open Access article publishing charges

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

UKRI Open Access policy for books, chapters and edited collections

All UKRI funded authors are required to make books, chapters and edited collections, that are published on or after 1st January 2024, Open Access with a Creative Commons licence. The final Version of Record or the Author’s Accepted Manuscript must be free to download via an online publication platform, publishers’ website, or repository within 12 months of publication. In this short briefing we explain:

Routes to Open Access
UKRI policy scope and exemptions
How to apply to the central UKRI fund to cover Open Access publishing charges
Finding Open Access publishers for books

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

Introduction to SciVal Research Intelligence Tool

Who is it for?
All staff involved in conducting, supporting or monitoring research outputs.

Brief description of course:
SciVal is a powerful research intelligence tool based on bibliometric data from research publications. SciVal enables researchers and those supporting research staff to visualize their institution/group’s research performance and benchmark it relative to their peers based on a variety of different metrics. It can also help you identify areas or partners for the development of collaborative networks. This session will introduce you to the scope and possibilities of SciVal. This is a 90 minute session. The first 60 minutes will explain what the tool is and how it can be used. The last 30 minutes will be an extended hands-on activity so that you get practical experience of using the tool. If you do not want to take part in this activity, please feel free to leave the session after 60 minutes.

Following the session you will be able to:

Understand what the tool is for and the data behind it.
Track the impact of your division’s research outputs.
Perform targeted analyses based on the publications of your own research division
Select suitable institutions/groups for benchmarking
Identify potential collaborators.

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

CentAUR and Open Access Surgery (1-1 Sessions)

These sessions are intended for researchers and those supporting them.

We can help you with queries about the open access policies that you must comply with, the gold and green options available to you and the processes to follow. We can also answer a wide range of questions about CentAUR (our institutional repository), or provide an overview of CentAUR for new users.

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

ORCiD Identifiers – What are they and why do I need one?

Who is it for?
Academic staff involved in research.

Brief description of course:
ORCID identifiers are being increasingly adopted by publishers and funders and there are already over 700 ORCID users at University of Reading. This session will help you understand why you need to create an ORCID identifier (ORCID iD) to establish your researcher identity and claim your research outputs. Find out how and when to use your ORCID ID in your professional scholarly activities. This is a 90 minute session, however the last 30 minutes will be reserved for you to create and populate an ORCID record with assistance from the trainer.

Following the session you will be able to:

Understand why you need to create an ORCiD identifier (ORCiD ID)
Create an ORCID ID and add your research outputs to your profile
Know how and when to use your ORCID ID in your professional scholarly activities

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

Open Access at Reading: all you need to know

This session is intended for new research staff, including early career researchers, and managers and professional services staff needing a general overview of Open Access at the University of Reading. We provide practical information about maximizing the visibility of your research publications for the benefit of both you and the University. Following the session you will be able to:

recognise the different types and benefits of Open Access
comply with the key Open Access policies affecting you
know what to deposit in CentAUR
apply to the University’s fund to cover Open Access publishing costs
make informed choices about where to publish
make informed decisions about sharing networks
access key bibliometric tools and Altmetric
register for and populate an ORCiD identifier

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

Paying to publish Gold Open Access journal articles

Publishing your article as Open Access on the publisher’s website usually incurs a fee. This applies for many fully Open Access journals and to hybrid journals unless covered by a Library read and publish agreement with the publisher. We will help you to navigate this complex landscape, to access funds to cover charges and to avoid receiving an unexpected bill. This short briefing will:

Explain which journals are covered by the Library’s read and publish deals
Check whether a journal meets the criteria for the University’s Gold Open Access fund and the UKRI block grant
Show when and how to apply to these funds to cover the cost of an article APC

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

Introduction to Open Research

This course will give you an introduction to open research methods and why they are important to the culture of research at University of Reading and the growing open research worldwide movement. We’ll cover the main principles, ask why open research is important and suggest small steps that you can take to make your research processes more open, transparent and accountable. We’ll cover concepts such as open notebooks, open data, open access, open peer review etc. This content fits in with the University’s open research action plan, open access and open data policies.

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

Writing a Data Management Plan

Many public funders of research require researchers to submit a data management plan (DMP) as part of a grant application, detailing what data will be collected in the proposed project, how data will be managed, and how and where data will be preserved and made available to others when the project concludes. Whether a funder requires it or not, if you use data in your research, you should have a DMP for your project. Writing a DMP can help you plan and execute research effectively, curate data for maximum utility, identify and manage risks, and ensure resource needs are appropriately costed.

This 2 hour course will offer practical guidance on developing an effective DMP for a grant application, and how to make best use of a DMP in your day to day research. Information about data management planning tools and resources to help you will be provided.
The objectives of this course are:

Learn how to write a data management plan for a grant application or research project.
Identify the core components of a data management plan and the key considerations to address in the plan.
Find out about resources and where to get help.

Please book your place via UoRLearn.

Research Data Management: An Introduction

Effective management of research data is fundamental to good research practice, and the preservation and sharing of data that enable research findings to be validated and reproduced is required by the University and by many public funders of research.

This course will introduce principles and practices of research data management that will be applicable to researchers at all stages of their careers working with research data in any discipline, whether in the sciences, social sciences or humanities. The course will cover: public funders’ and the University’s research data policies and requirements; data management plans for funding applications; storage, organisation and documentation of data; data quality control; ethics and legal compliance; ownership and rights in data; and data preservation and sharing.
The objectives of the course are:

Learn what research data management is and how to manage your own research effectively.
Find out about the University’s and funders’ policy requirements for research data.
Find out about resources and where to get help.

Please book your place via UoRLearn.