The launch of Octopus: the new primary research record

About

We need to break down the barriers that block access to research, to remove the hierarchies and change the incentives that drive research in the wrong directions.

Octopus sets out to do all of this. By becoming the official and global primary research record, existing only to serve the needs of the research community, it is designed purely to incentivise the highest standards of research practice and culture. Using Octopus, researchers can read, review and register ideas and findings - freely and immediately publishing their work in full detail, and in an open and transparent way and gaining the credit for it.

Read more about the project.

In August 2021 Octopus Community Interest Company (CIC), in collaboration with Jisc, received £650,000 from Research England’s emerging priorities fund to support the technical development required to move Octopus from a prototype to a global service.

Initially, Octopus’s 8 publication types are most closely aligned with the scientific research process. These are problem, hypothesis, method, results, analysis, interpretation, real-world application and peer review. However, researchers from all disciplines are welcome to use the platform. As we continue to develop Octopus, we plan to directly support academics who use other research processes. We are planning a discovery period to better understand the requirements of these disciplines and anyone interested in participating can get involved by messaging help@jisc.ac.uk.

What to expect at our event

With guest speakers from across the research community, this event celebrates the launch of the platform and looks forward to our plans for the future.

Attendees can expect:

• A demonstration of Octopus and how it works
• Panel discussion: how Octopus can change research culture for the better
• Outline of the post-launch development roadmap
• Opportunity to pose questions to the panellists and project team.

Speakers

• Chair: Liam Earney, Managing Director of Higher Education and Research at Jisc
• Dr Alex Freeman, creator of Octopus
• David Sweeney, executive chair at Research England
• Marcus Munafò, Chair of the UKRN Steering Group and Professor at the University of Bristol
• Steven Hill, Director of Research at Research England
• Ralitsa Madsen, Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow at UCL Cancer Institute and UK Committee on Research Integrity member
• Paul Walton, Professor at the University of York
• Erika Pastrana, Editorial Director at Nature Journals and Open Science advocate

Additional speakers may be confirmed.