The Position Paper of the Open Science Working Group of the Association of Libraries of Czech Universities draws on practical experience with institutional support for open science, places the Czech situation in a European and international context, and summarizes its main areas: open access to publications, the management and sharing of research data and software, supporting infrastructures, citizen science, and open educational resources. At the same time, it identifies the main obstacles to the development of open science in the Czech Republic, particularly insufficient coordination, uneven institutional capacities, a lack of systemic support, and an unclear legislative and financial framework. 

Working with research data requires a responsible approach throughout the entire data lifecycle – from their creation, through processing and analysis, to their archiving, potential sharing, and reuse. In the document, you will find the key ethical aspects that build on the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) for managing research data and complement them with selected principles of research integrity and open science, with the aim of enabling their long-term use and future value. 

The Beginner’s Guide is intended for new colleagues who have taken up positions involving research data management (RDM), or who have joined an institution as data stewards. The guide helps identify the key areas to focus on and develop a plan for getting started. It describes where to begin, how to familiarise yourself with the institution, and how to start collaborating with project support teams.  

The checklist will help you assess how FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) your research data are. The English version of the checklist, developed by Sarah Jones and Marjan Grootveld, is available here. A Czech version translated by our team is available here.  

A factsheet for employees of Charles University on how to assess the credibility of scientific journals and avoid publishing in so-called predatory journals.