Research on Research Registry and hub: promoting practices that improve the way we do science

Background: Research on research (RoR), referred also as metascience, critically examines research practice. The rapid growth of RoR evidence highlights the need for funders and research organisations to work collaboratively to increase sharing evidence, decrease risk of duplication and research waste, and ultimately lead to better implementation of research. To address these needs, the RoR registry and community hub was established in 2021 to bring together national and international RoR communities and thus strengthen the impact of this evolving discipline within the broader research ecosystem. The RoR registry and hub facilitates collaborative efforts among stakeholders dedicated to refining research practices. It aims to enhance the visibility of RoR studies, thus enabling the formation of research partnerships and promoting effective dissemination of evidence. This paper provides a comprehensive account of the registry's development and outlines the strategic activities implemented to drive its adoption within the research community. Methods: We utilised multiple methods to develop, grow and maintain the RoR registry. These consist of: a review of registries; creation of an advisory group; development of a web-based online registry of projects; conducting an online survey one year after launch to evaluate the performance of the RoR registry and hub; running two online events to first launch the registry and to showcase research registered on the platform; establishing Chatter sessions (online webinars on research on research topics); dissemination activities to promote the registry through publications and collaborations with publishers; and generating materials throughout the time the registry has been operating that reach multiple audiences. Results : The development of the registry took place between January 2020 and June 2021. The scope of registries that were available at the time informed the contents of the registry and especially, the questions that are asked at registration, ensuring a useful and still pragmatic mechanism to register work. An advisory board of experts provided strategic advice during the development phase. In parallel, a brand concept for the RoR registry and RoR team was co-developed. A video to explain the aim of the registry was co-created with a science communicator. An online launch event for the RoR registry and hub in June 2021 announced the registry to relevant communities (ror-hub.org) where a panel of experts discussed research on research and the role of this activity in the research ecosystem. A series of online webinars (Chatter sessions) were set up after the launch event where presenters led a discussion on topics of interest to the community, invited reflection and encouraged adoption of evidence to improve practice. The online evaluation survey of the registry and chatter sessions asked communities of interest about usefulness of the registry, benefits and challenges to engaging with the website and ways to increase its uptake. Forty-seven responses to the online survey were received. Five themes extracted through thematic analysis were: 1: Chatter sessions (two subthemes: management and topic coverage) 2: Registry outputs 3: Opportunities for improvement and collaboration 4: Promoting the registry 5: Reasons for not interacting with the registry. Findings of the evaluation highlighted the need for clearer communication about Chatter sessions with more notice and post-session materials, as well as more diverse topics like AI and bias in research. Members suggested improvements to the registry itself, including better promotion, simpler study entry, and more engaging content like mini blogs to encourage wider use. Finally, while many members found the registry through word-of-mouth, lack of time and awareness were cited as the main barriers to having greater interaction.In May 2024, the RoR team organised an online research festival, ‘AI and research: a promising relationship?’, to celebrate the registry's first three years. The festival included a panel discussion on the role of artificial intelligence in research, including whether AI could reduce research bureaucracy and how AI could impact on research integrity and presentations from projects added to the registry. 107 participants from organisations in 28 countries, including research funders, universities, charities, hospitals and publishers worldwide logged on to the festival sessions, provided highly positive feedback on the relevance and usefulness of the topics discussed, the discussion and presentations. Reflections: This paper presents the development of the RoR registry and community hub, describing the process from initial idea to launch, subsequent evaluation and continuous dissemination to encourage its use for best research practices. The highlights of the virtual research festival hosted by the RoR team, which focused on the intersection of AI and research, showed the multiple ways in which the community around the registry has been established and how it is contributing to the research ecosystem. The next steps for the registry and hub include expansion of the registry by partnering with organisations conducting research on research activity; developing strategies to attract more users to the registry; and encourage active participation within the community hub, targeting outreach and continuously analysing the impact by tracking collaborations, measuring changes in research quality, or surveying users to gather feedback on the platform's effectiveness.