Lola Harre (JISC) Octopus is an innovative open platform where the scientific community can freely read, review, and register ideas and findings. Launching next month, it will enable researchers – of every seniority, institution, and location – to immediately establish a claim on their work and get fair credit for everything they do. The platform will closely integrate with existing research tools and systems, such as ORCID, but with incentives for good research practice, constructive peer review, and collaborative working, it is also designed to create a new culture of collaboration and recognition which improves access to research and rewards best practice in every aspect of the scientific process. This is an opportunity to learn more about the project and its aims, and to see an early demo of the platform prior to launch.

1. Octopus
Octopus
Fast, free, and fair

2. The context for Octopus
A time of review, reform, and debate
• Research culture
• Open access
• Research assessment
• Reproducibility and reliability
• Global demands on the research community
Octopus
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3. Octopus: the primary research record
• The place where researchers can record their work in detail: what has
been done, by whom, and with what result.
• Octopus publications are not papers. The emphasis is on recording work
in full, as it happens, rather than producing a finished narrative.
• Aligned with open research policies and best practice.
• Allows journals and other traditional publishing outlets to focus on the
dissemination of key findings to practitioners and researchers.
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4. Nurturing a collaborative
culture
All publications are linked in
branching chains
• 8 publication types, aligned with the stages of
the scientific process
• Each stage can be published as it happens
• Every new publication must be linked to at
least one other
• Multiple authors can link from the same
publication
• Aids navigation and discovery, and helps
identify opportunities to collaborate
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5. What makes Octopus different?
A platform which incentivises best practice and research integrity
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Alternative publication types Octopus has 8 output types aligned with the scientific research process:
problem, hypothesis, method, data, analysis, interpretation, real-world
impact, and peer review.
Emphasis on quality Each research stage is published independently and so can be assessed on
its own merits. With this approach, findings are no more important than
theories, methods, or analyses, shifting the focus away from ‘impact’ and
other proxy metrics.
Fair recognition for
researchers
The smaller publications on Octopus encourage more meaningful author
groups which accurately reflect who worked on each stage.
Reducing bias in research
assessment
The platform is designed to remove sources of potential bias when
assessing work: first names and institutional affiliation are not displayed on
publication pages, and there are no user profile photos.

6. What makes Octopus different?
A new way to record research that is fast, free and fair
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Publish fast, for free
Publication is immediate, allowing researchers to quickly share new ideas
and findings and promptly establish priority on their work.
Openness
All content is published to Octopus under an open access license, and the
platform itself is entirely open source. Copyright remains with the authors.
Transparency
All user activity is recorded and displayed on their public profile. The
Octopus team shares a public roadmap and records progress on Github.
Digital-first platform
We have the chance to use 21st century tools to meet the needs of
researchers today. This includes opportunities to integrate with existing
systems and so reduce bureaucratic burden on researchers.
Built with the community
Working closely with researchers, stakeholders, and research organisations
to ensure that the platform aligns with relevant policies and requirements.

7. Developed in partnership
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8. Project roadmap
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Jan –
May
May –
June
Late
June
From
August
From
August
Summer
2023
Platform
development
User testing
Platform
launch
Post MVP
features
Further
investigations
with research
systems
Independent
impact review

9. Octopus
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Platform demo

10. Getting involved
A platform built with the
community
• Join our launch event on 29th June 16:00 BST.
• Join our user community for the latest
updates, previews, drop-in sessions, and
to help shape the project roadmap.
• Follow general updates
at @science_octopus as well as the Jisc R&D
Octopus page.
• Contact the Octopus team if you would
like more information or a platform demo.
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What do you see as the key challenges
to adoption for a new platform like
Octopus?
How might Octopus align with
traditional publishing processes?
Are there any features or data which
would be useful to your organisation?
What other research
systems/tools should Octopus
integrate with?

11. Want to talk more?
Visit the Jisc stand
• Speak to me on the Jisc stand 26:
• Tuesday 13:45-14:30
• Tuesday 17.30-18:00
• Or email me at lola.harre@jisc.ac.uk to
schedule a time
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Who are Jisc?
We provide digital solutions for universities,
colleges, and research institutions.
Our vision is for the UK to be world leaders in
technology for education and research.

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Thank you!
Any questions?
lola.harre@jisc.ac.uk
Octopus Product Manager
science_octopus