Open research and communication

Transparency

As a research funder we have a responsibility to ensure that our decision-making processes are fair and transparent. We are a signatory of DORA, the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, and actively apply its recommendations. We make information about our funding schemes publicly available, including:

• The assessment criteria for all our grant schemes.
• Success rates for the schemes.
• Membership of our Funding Panels.
• Diversity across our funding portfolio.

We provide support for those applying for funding via our applicant handbook and guide (including a recorded webinar) on effectively describing the potential 3Rs impact of research, as well as through our dedicated funding team.

We are also transparent about what we have funded. Each award has a dedicated page in the 'Our Portfolio' section of the NC3Rs website that summarises the aims of the research and its key impacts, including links to publications.

Open science

We encourage open science approaches. NC3Rs grant holders are expected to publish their work in a freely-accessible platform, in accordance with UKRI’s policy on open science, to maximise re-use and amplify the benefits of the research.

We also provide the NC3Rs gateway, a dedicated open access portal on the F1000Research platform where NC3Rs grant holders can publish their methodology in full. This allows other researchers to interrogate, reproduce and build on 3Rs models, tools and approaches developed with NC3Rs funding, maximising their impact and uptake by others. A variety of publication types are available on the gateway, including Research Articles, Brief Reports and Data Notes. As part of our strategy for avoiding publication bias in the research we fund, we also support Registered Reports, which allow study plans to be published and reviewed prior to the research being conducted.

You can read more about the NC3Rs gateway on our resource page.

Sometimes the work of the NC3Rs includes the use of animals – for example, in validation studies or as part of refinement projects to determine the impact on animal welfare. We have published our policy on animal research and provided public-facing information on the use of animals and the 3Rs. We are also a signatory of the Concordat on Openness on Animal Research.