How to share your research

Open at La Trobe (OPAL)

La Trobe University researchers are encouraged to deposit their research outputs in OPAL, La Trobe University's collaborative digital repository.

This includes publications, data, teaching materials, code and any other research and teaching outputs you can think of! See this showcase for some examples of the varied items that can be stored there.

1. Get a stable link to the item: OPAL assigns a DOI to each public item 
2. Make your work easily found: Tag and describe the item (metadata)
3. Increase your reach and impact: Assign it an open CC BY license
4. Track engagement: OPAL tracks citations and 'altmetrics' for each public item

You also have to option to store private or draft items in OPAL, or apply embargo periods where the item will be hidden.

OPAL how-to guides:

OPAL is able to host a wide array of different item types (examples showcase) which are uploaded through two different methods:

• For publications (journal articles, book chapters, published conference proceedings etc.)
• For everything else (data, presentations, videos, posters, lectures etc.)

Other open repositories

Other than OPAL, you may wish to deposit your data in a discipline-specific repository to maximise the likelihood of it being both discovered and useful to others in your field. Different repositories may specify different requirements that you may need to consider. In general, remember to:

• use standard data formats to facilitate long-term access and preservation
• include documentation and descriptive metadata to ensure your data can be discovered and understood by others
• choose a license that clearly indicates access and sharing rights for your data

The useful links below provide information about repository options