Urban Vitality Open Science Checklist
Authors: ter Riet Gerben 
Published: March 2022

The Urban Vitality Open Science Checklist (UV-OSCL) is a list of 14 items that helps researchers work according to open science principles in all phases of their research

Those open science principles are: transparency, accessibility, reproducibility, citizen science and FAIR data management. In addition, the UV-OSCL wants to inspire institutional policy makers to create policies that maximize the facilitation of responsible research practices. This can be done by making the checklist central to research applications, research execution and research program monitoring.

How to use the Urban Vitality Open Science Checklist.

The checklist can be used structurally and incidentally.

Structural use. The checklist will reach its maximum potential if the management of knowledge centers and CoEs use the checklist as a policy tool and organize their pre-award and post-award research processes around the checklist items. Annually, for example, a data steward could check with researchers on a project in an open dialogue to see which of the 14 items have been met. In this way, the progress of the knowledge center or CoE can be monitored over time and it is learned which items are difficult or easy to implement and how the policy (or possibly the checklist itself) can be adjusted accordingly. If such discussions can include the end responsible professors, this is highly recommended.

Incidental use. In research projects, researchers can use the checklist as a compass, which if followed, leads to highly responsible research practice and the avoidance of 'research waste'.

The UV-OSCL begins with a general question about having an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) of the team members in the research project. This is followed by thirteen items that are loosely arranged in a time sequence and are divided into four phases of research: application, planning, execution, and completion. When using the checklist structurally, professors or support desk staff could engage with the researcher in a discussion about how the team wants to implement the principles the checklist points out. The checklist and accompanying infographic depicting the checklist are linked via links to 14 corresponding chapters of the Urban Vitality Open Science Research Manual. The manual succinctly but clearly explains the background of the items and how the items can be met efficiently.

The checklist can also be used by institutions to send a signal to funders: We endorse this checklist, try to work according to the checklist as much as possible and can therefore guarantee that the grant is spent on responsible research.

Where does the Urban Vitality Open Science Checklist come from?
The Urban Vitality Open Science Checklist was developed at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Specifically, it comes from the SIA project Mensen in Beweging . In 2020, the methodologist and the data steward, who were responsible for the work package Quality Improvement, combined their joint knowledge about four sources of inspiration into the checklist. These sources of inspiration are: the Dutch Code of Conduct for Scientific Integrity, the Open Science transparency principles, the literature on Avoidable Research Waste and that on the replication crisis in science.