In June 2026, we published the first version of the Belgian Diamond Open Access Landscape dataset, an openly available dataset documenting Belgian Diamond Open Access (OA) and delayed OA journals.[1] As the mapping exercise is conceived as an ongoing effort, we continue to identify, verify, and document additional journals. These efforts have already resulted in the publication of a second version of the dataset.[2] The most important changes concern two targeted review exercises. First, we systematically compared our dataset with the ALMASI Diamond OA dataset, a large-scale bibliometric dataset of Diamond OA journals in Africa, Europe, and Latin America.[3] This comparison allowed us to identify a number of Belgian journals that met our inclusion criteria but had been missed in the first version of our dataset. At the same time, the comparison provided valuable insights into the different outcomes that are produced by bibliometric and manually verified approaches. The results of this comparison, together with a detailed discussion of the observed differences between both datasets, are presented later in this article. Second, we conducted a systematic review of the Diamond OA publishing activities of Belgian university presses, as well as two Belgian-based scholarly publishers, Brepols and Peeters Publishers. Both exercises further strengthened the coverage of the Belgian scholarly publishing landscape.

While the comparison with the ALMASI dataset initially served a practical purpose, namely identifying additional journals for inclusion in version 2 of the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset, it also generated a number of broader insights, which may be of interest to others working on Diamond OA monitoring and mapping. Before turning to the results, however, it is useful to give a brief overview of the methodologies used by both datasets. The ALMASI Diamond OA dataset was constructed by combining metadata from ROAD[4] and OpenAlex[5] to create a base list of OA journals. Journals that charge Article Processing Charges (APCs) were subsequently identified and excluded through cross-referencing with OpenAPC,[6] DOAJ,[7] and OpenAlex metadata. The resulting dataset was further validated and enriched through the integration of established Diamond OA datasets, national journal portals, and targeted manual verification in a small number of individual countries. Where information on publication fees was not explicitly available, journals were assumed to be Diamond OA and retained in the dataset. The final dataset contains 20.355 Diamond OA journals from Africa, Europe, and Latin America.[8]

In contrast, the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset was built through a process of systematic manual verification and contextual interpretation at the level of individual journals. Journals were identified through a broad range of sources, including DOAJ, DDH,[9] OpenEdition Journals,[10] institutional publishing platforms, national funding programs, and existing Diamond OA inventories.[11] Each journal was subsequently reviewed individually, with the journal’s own website serving as the primary source for assessing journal characteristics and publication models. Candidate journals were then evaluated against a number of explicit inclusion criteria: (1) only active journals are included, meaning that the journal has published at least one issue within the previous five years,[12] (2) a journal is considered Belgian only when the publisher or publishing entity is legally based in Belgium, and (3) journals are classified as Diamond OA when no publication fees are charged to authors for unconditional open publishing.[13] In addition, the dataset separately documents Belgian delayed OA journals, allowing both publication models to be studied alongside one another while maintaining a clear distinction between them.[14]

The comparison between both datasets provides an opportunity to examine not only the completeness of both datasets but also the kinds of journals that tend to remain invisible under different methodological approaches. In particular, it allows us to assess the extent to which national, manually verified mapping exercises can complement international bibliometric initiatives, especially in a context where many Diamond OA journals remain only partially represented in major international indexes and databases. The relevance of such verification is also acknowledged by the authors of the ALMASI dataset, who note that bibliometric metadata are not always up to date and may contain inaccuracies regarding journals’ OA policies.[15] Similar concerns have been raised in studies of national Diamond OA landscapes outside Belgium, where it has been shown that the journals identified can vary depending on the criteria and data sources used.[16]

As said above, the first outcome of this comparison was the identification of additional journals for inclusion in the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset. As a result, 63 journals are shared by both datasets, whereas 92 journals are unique to the ALMASI dataset and 99 are unique to the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset. We also identified one duplicate record in the ALMASI dataset. The analysis therefore uses 155 unique journals rather than the 156 records reported in the original dataset.[17] These figures indicate that, despite a substantial overlap, both datasets also contain a considerable number of unique titles, which calls for a closer examination of the reasons for this divergence.

Figure 1. Comparison of journal coverage in the ALMASI dataset and the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset.

Of the 92 journals that were not included in the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset, the largest group consists of Hybrid OA journals (n = 49). Another substantial group comprises discontinued journals (n = 16), indicating that they are no longer active at the time of verification. Furthermore, 13 journals were excluded because they operate under a Gold OA model with Article Processing Charges (APCs), while for 9 journals no explicit evidence could be identified that all content would become openly accessible after an embargo period. A smaller number of journals were excluded due to the absence of a (current) Belgian connection (n = 5), because they provided paywalled access to their content (n = 3), or because they followed a Subscribe to Open model (n = 1).[18]

Figure 2. Number of journals excluded from the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset by exclusion criterion.

Several explanations may account for the discrepancies between both datasets. One possibility is that journal information changed between the creation of both datasets. However, given that the ALMASI dataset was published on 11 December 2025 and the first version of the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset was completed on 23 June 2026, this appears relatively unlikely, as the interval between both datasets is limited. A more plausible explanation is that some journals were incorrectly classified in the bibliometric sources on which the ALMASI methodology relies. Inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated metadata concerning publication models, APC policies, journal activity status, and publisher information most likely explains why a number of journals identified as Diamond OA by ALMASI did not meet the inclusion criteria applied in the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape study.

If we zoom in on the Hybrid OA journals, an interesting observation is that more than one-third of the journals identified in the ALMASI dataset (57 out of 155) are published by Brepols and Peeters Publishers, two publishers based in the Flemish region of Belgium and focused on the humanities. The strong presence of these two commercial academic publishers largely explains the high number of journals that were ultimately classified as Hybrid OA rather than Diamond OA. A likely explanation is that the publication models of these journals are difficult to identify through bibliographic metadata alone. These journals contain a mixture of open and restricted content, while bibliographic databases do not always capture the distinction between access conditions and publication models in a sufficiently granular manner.[19] What is also striking is that several journals published by Brepols and Peeters Publishers that were identified as Diamond OA in the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape study were absent from the ALMASI dataset. This suggests that bibliographic metadata not only leads to the inclusion of journals that do not meet the Diamond OA criteria, but also results in the omission of journals that do.

Not all differences between the two datasets can be attributed solely to inaccuracies or limitations in bibliographic metadata. The category “Embargo not explicitly stated” reflects a methodological difference in how delayed OA journals are identified and classified, rather than a disagreement about the OA status of these journals. No information could be identified regarding how delayed OA journals were handled when compiling the ALMASI dataset. In our study, delayed OA journals were explicitly included as a separate category, provided that the journal clearly stated that all content would become openly accessible after a defined embargo period. This requirement was adopted as a deliberate inclusion criterion in order to establish a clear and consistently applicable boundary between journals that could be verified as delayed OA and those for which insufficient evidence was available. Although delayed OA journals were also present in the ALMASI dataset, they were not identified as a distinct category. This suggests that delayed OA journals were captured by their methodology, but without the additional verification criteria that we applied.

Although this concerns only a single journal in the present comparison, it is worth briefly explaining why journals operating under a Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) model are not included in our dataset. While S2O enables content to become openly accessible without direct author-facing publication fees, the continuation of OA remains contingent upon the willingness of subscribers to renew their subscriptions. As a result, OA is not guaranteed as a permanent feature of the journal and may be reversed if sufficient subscription revenue is not maintained. In contrast, our definition of Diamond OA requires that OA is provided independently of subscription income. For this reason, S2O journals are not considered Diamond OA within the scope of the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset.[20]

The reverse perspective is equally informative. Looking at the journals that are unique to the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset reveals a number of patterns that might help explain the differences between both datasets. A first observation is that a substantial number of journals hosted on institutional and community-based publishing platforms such as OpenEdition Journals, Openjournals.nl, Open Journals UGent, OJS UCLouvain, and PoPuPS (ULiège) were absent from the ALMASI dataset. This suggests that, as expected, the bibliometric approach is less effective at identifying journals published through smaller institutional and community-based Diamond OA infrastructures, and is more suited for identifying journals and publishers that are well represented in international metadata sources.

Platform	Shared by both datasets	Only in Belgian Landscape dataset
Openjournals.nl	0	4
OJS UCLouvain	5	11
PoPuPS (ULiège)	5	18
OpenEdition Journals	10	10
Open Journals UGent	10	12

Tabel 1. Shared and unique journals by publishing platform.

A further explanation for the observed differences between the two datasets can be found in disciplinary orientation.[21] Only 36% of HSS journals are found in both datasets, compared with 46% of SET journals and 53% of BMS journals.[22] This pattern partly reflects the strong presence of HSS journals on institutional and community-based publishing platforms, which themselves are underrepresented in the ALMASI dataset as shown above. This observation is also consistent with broader scholarly communication patterns, as SET and BMS journals tend to be better represented in large international indexing and metadata databases, making them easier to identify through bibliometric approaches.

Disciplines	Shared by both datasets	Only in Belgian Landscape dataset	Total
HSS	46 (36%)	83 (64%)	129
SET	12 (46%)	14 (54%)	26
BMS	8 (53%)	7 (47%)	15

Tabel 2. Shared and unique journals by discipline.[23]

Publication language, on the other hand, does not appear to provide a convincing explanation for the differences between the two datasets. To classify the journals by publication language, we applied the same broad categories as used in the ALMASI scoping report:[24]

• English: journals publishing exclusively in English;
• Multilingual: journals publishing in English and at least one additional language;
• Other languages: journals publishing exclusively in non-English languages.

The proportion of journals identified by both datasets is remarkably similar across English-language, multilingual, and other-language journals, suggesting that the bibliometric approach does not systematically favor or overlook journals based on publication language.

Publication languages	Shared by both datasets	Only in Belgian Landscape dataset	Total
English	17 (37%)	29 (63%)	46
Multilingual	34 (39,5%)	52 (60,5%)	86
Other languages	12 (40%)	18 (60%)	30

Tabel 3. Shared and unique journals by publication language.

Comparing the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset with the ALMASI dataset provided valuable insights into how methodological choices, including data sources, inclusion criteria, and validation procedures, shape the representation of national publishing landscapes. While large-scale datasets make cross-national analyses possible, national studies can provide contextual knowledge and journal-level verification that are difficult to achieve at scale. The comparison revealed discrepancies related to journal activity status, national affiliation, and, most importantly, the classification of OA models. It also showed that journals published through institutional and community-based publishing infrastructures, as well as Humanities and Social Sciences journals, were less consistently represented across both datasets. The Belgian case therefore highlights the need for further reflection on how Diamond OA journals are identified and classified, particularly when the aim is to capture diverse and locally embedded publishing initiatives.

---

[1] Laura Mesotten and Demmy Verbeke, The Belgian Diamond Open Access Landscape, June 23, 2026, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20760254.

[2] Version 2 of the dataset was published on October 9, 2026 and is available via https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20760253. 

[3] Zehra Taskin and Mikael Laakso, ALMASI Dataset of Diamond Open Access Journals, December 11, 2025, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17897299.

[4] ROAD (Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources) is an ISSN-based international database maintained by the ISSN International Centre that provides metadata on Open Access scholarly resources. See: https://www.issn.org/services/online-services/road-the-directory-of-open-access-scholarly-resources/.

[5] OpenAlex is an open bibliographic database containing metadata on scientific publications, authors, institutions, and funders.

[6] OpenAPC is an open initiative that aggregates data on Article Processing Charges (APCs), Book Processing Charges (BPCs) and data on articles published under transformative agreements.

[7] DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) is a community-curated index of peer-reviewed Open Access journals. Although DOAJ metadata were used during the construction and validation of the ALMASI dataset, DOAJ inclusion alone does not appear to determine whether a journal is captured by the ALMASI methodology. In the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape dataset, 18 of the 49 journals (37%) indexed in DOAJ are absent from the ALMASI dataset.

[8] Mikael Laakso and Zehra Taskin, D1.1 Scoping Report on Non-for-Profit Publishing Ecosystems, December 29, 2025, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18257718.

[9] DDH (Directory of Diamond Journals) is a community-maintained directory of Diamond Open Access journals.

[10] OpenEdition Journals is a publishing platform and infrastructure for Open Access journals in the humanities and social sciences, operated by OpenEdition.

[11] All consulted data sources are described in the dataset’s About section.

[12] Journals that explicitly state that publication has ceased, that have not published any content within the previous five years, or that have been launched but have not yet published any content are considered inactive and are excluded from the dataset.

[13] These inclusion criteria are described in more detail in the dataset’s About section.

[14] All tables and figures presented in this article are based on the combined set of Belgian Diamond OA and Belgian delayed OA journals.

[15] Laakso and Taskin, D1.1 Scoping Report on Non-for-Profit Publishing Ecosystems, 132.

[16] Simone Angioni et al., “Charting the Landscape of Italian Diamond Open Access Publishing,” Quantitative Science Studies 7 (June 2026): 564–84, https://doi.org/10.1162/QSS.a.466.

[17] The duplicate record concerns Revue Quetelet / Quetelet Journal, which is listed in the ALMASI dataset under two separate records: Revue Quetelet + Quetelet Journal (ISSN 2593-9149, eISSN 2593-9157) and Revue Quetelet / Quetelet Journal (ISSN 2034-9378, eISSN 2034-9386). The latter record is also registered in the ISSN Portal, albeit under the title Chaire Quetelet. It presumably refers to an earlier registration of the same journal and was therefore treated as a duplicate.

[18] Some journals met more than one exclusion criterion and were therefore counted in more than one category. In particular, the category No Belgian affiliation overlaps with Gold Open Access with APC (n = 3) and Paywalled access (n = 1). As a result, the counts for the individual exclusion criteria should not be added together, as this would exceed the total number of excluded journals (n = 92).

[19] Recent recommendations of the OpenAlex Colors Working Group highlight important limitations of current Open Access classification systems. In particular, the report argues that widely used OA classifications often conflate access conditions with publishing and funding models, making it difficult to consistently represent more complex OA arrangements and to distinguish between different publication models on the basis of bibliographic metadata alone. See Juan Pablo Alperin et al., Recommendations for Revising the Open Access Classification System in OpenAlex, August 14, 2026, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21934115.

[20] Some studies and mapping exercises adopt a broader definition of Diamond OA and do include S2O journals, e.g. Niels Taubert et al., “Mapping the German Diamond Open Access Journal Landscape,” Minerva 62, no. 2 (2024): 193–227, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-023-09519-7.

[21] The disciplinary categories were assigned by the authors as part of the Belgian Diamond OA Landscape study, based on the primary focus of each journal. As a result, some classification decisions may be open to interpretation.

[22] The totals by discipline exceed the number of journals because some journals were assigned to more than one disciplinary category and are therefore counted more than once.

[23] For Tables 2 and 3, percentages are calculated relative to the total number of journals in the respective category.

[24] Laakso and Taskin, D1.1 Scoping Report on Non-for-Profit Publishing Ecosystems, 135.

This event is only open to KU Leuven researchers and staff.

The Artes Research team from KU Leuven Libraries Artes and the ABAP council will kick off the new academic year with a special “How Do You Do (It)?” (HDYDI) session dedicated to research data workflows. This special session will coincide with the start of the Digital Scholarship Module taught by the Artes Research team. It will take place on Thursday 6 November, 14:00-16:30, in the Justus Lipsiuszaal (Erasmushuis, Leuven).

Everyone is welcome to attend, you do not need to register!

Program

14:00-15:00

To help you through the afternoon slump, we will start with coffee and cookies which will be served in the main entrance hall of the Erasmushuis.

15:00-16h30

We will then move up to the 8^th floor (Justus Lipsiuszaal) to start the session which will feature talks from researchers at the Faculty of Arts who outline their research workflows: how do they approach their research, what tools do they use, with what kind of data are they working, etc. We will get a behind-the-scenes look from:

• Tim Debroyer (Cultural History since 1750)
• Lauren Ottaviani (English Literature)
• Sinem Bilican (Interpreting Studies)

There will be lots of time for questions and getting to know each other’s workflows.

The event will take place in Leuven, but if you would like to join online you can let us know at artesresearch@kuleuven.be and we will provide you with the link.

Practical details

• When: Thursday 6 November, from 14:00 to 16:30
• Where: coffee in main entrance hall and session in Justus Lipsiuszaal (Erasmushuis, Leuven) with online option: if you would like to join online you can let us know at artesresearch@kuleuven.be and we will provide you with the link
• Price: free
• Registration: no registration required

Have you been meaning to set up an appointment to ask about research data management for your project, an aspect of your research workflow, or a specific DH tool or method? You can now come to one of our drop-in sessions and we will help you on the spot! No need to make an appointment!

The sessions are designed to support researchers, students, and staff members in all areas of digital scholarship. The initiative is a collaboration between Artes Research, DH-support staff and researchers at the Faculty of Arts, and ICTS at the Faculty of Arts.

Some areas that we can help with:

• Getting started with Zotero or optimizing Zotero use with an existing Zotero library
• Suggesting DH tools or methods for your specific research questions
  • Relational databases in FileMaker
  • Social Network Analysis and network visualizations
  • Computational tools for working with texts
• Providing resources for various DH and RDM tools
• Advice on DMPs
• Advice on scholarly communication
• Advice on Lirias
• … and much more!

Don’t have a question about any of the above but want to learn more about DH? No problem! Come and use our space for co-working! It’s a great moment to develop digital skills by starting a Programming Historian tutorial, for instance!

Stop by on one of the following dates and we will be glad to help you:

• Thursday 7 November, 14h-16h, the Salon (LETT 00.24)
• Thursday 5 December, 14h-16h, the Salon (LETT 00.24)

The Artes Research team from KU Leuven Libraries Artes will organize a training on structured note-taking with digital tools on Thursday 13 June, 10h to 12h at Agora Learning Centre, collaborative learning space (M00.E67). Everyone is welcome to attend but registration is required.

Program

Would you like to find a better way to organize your thoughts, research notes, and writing process? Structured note-taking applications can be an invaluable tool to help you get a grip on your ideas and deal with information overload effectively. These applications can enable you to boost your productivity by streamlining your workflow and making your notes more accessible in the long run.

During the training you will be introduced to various structured note-taking applications. Learn about how to use them, their pros and cons, and how to choose an application that suits your needs.

Practicalities

• When : Thursday 13 June, from 10h to 12h
• Where: Agora Learning Centre, collaborative learning space (M00.E67)
• Price: free
• Registration: OneButton

The Artes Research team from KU Leuven Libraries Artes and the Faculty of Arts will organize a training on relational databases, given by Tom Gheldof, on Thursday 18 April, from 13h30 to 16h30, in the Colloquium (University Library, Leuven). Everyone is welcome to attend, but you do need to register.

This training is a follow-up session from the relational databases basics training that took place in November 2023. That workshop provided an introduction on how to model information, what a relational database is and how it works, and finally, how to get started creating a relational database (using the Claris FileMaker environment).

Program

The relational databases advanced training session allows participants to further develop their skills. If you participated in the basics training or if you have already started creating a relational database using FileMaker but would like guidance or to learn how to optimize your database, the advanced training might be a good fit for you!

Practicalities

• When : Thursday 18 April, from 13h30 to 16h30
• Where: University Library, Colloquium (Ladeuzeplein 21, 3000 Leuven)
• Price: free
• Registration: Onebutton

Have you been meaning to set up an appointment with Artes Research to ask about research data management for your project, an aspect of your research workflow, or a specific DH tool? You can now come to one of our drop-in sessions, and we will help you on the spot! No need to make an appointment!

Some areas that we can help with:

• • Getting started with Zotero
  • Optimizing Zotero use with an existing Zotero library
  • Suggesting DH tools or methods for your specific research questions
  • Providing resources for various DH and RDM tools
  • Advice on DMPs
  • Advice on scholarly communication
  • Advice on Lirias
  • … and much more!

Don’t have a question about any of the above but want to learn more about DH? No problem! Come and use our space for co-working! It’s a great moment to develop digital skills by starting a Programming Historian tutorial, for instance!

Stop by on one of the following dates and we will be glad to help you:

• • Thursday 25 January from 10h30-12h30, Erasmushuis (LETT 01.16)
  • Thursday 22 February from 10h30-12h30, Erasmushuis (LETT 01.16)
  • Thursday 18 April from 10h30-12h30, Erasmushuis (LETT 01.16)
  • Thursday 30 May from 10h30-12h30, Erasmushuis (LETT 01.16)

This event is only open to KU Leuven researchers and staff.

The Artes Research team from KU Leuven Libraries Artes and the Faculty of Arts will organize a training on website building given by Hans Coppens. It will take place on Tuesday 23 January, 14h-15h30, in the collaborative working space (Agora, Leuven). Everyone is welcome to attend, but you do need to register.

Program

This workshop provides an introduction to building websites. It is geared towards researchers who would like to build a personal academic or project website, which is typically done through the use of a Content Management System (CMS). The training will have three distinct parts:

1. It will start with an overview of platform options, exploring the functionalities and building blocks of each. This part of the training will help researchers learn how to choose the right platform for their specific needs.
2. Next, the training will cover the practical steps for building a website: what infrastructure is needed, and are specific technical skills necessary to get started? To gain a basic understanding of web architecture, a few key principles and important factors to keep in mind when building a website will be discussed.
3. Finally, participants will look at a concrete example of how a website can be built starting from zero to gain inspiration for getting started on their own web platforms.

Practicalities

• When: Tuesday 23 January, from 14h to 15h30
• Where: Agora, collaborative working space
• Price: free
• Registration: OneButton

Do you want to know more about Open Science or maybe you have ideas or expertise that you wish to share? Or you just want to take part in the debate? Participate in the KU Leuven Open Science Day and submit your own contribution. Accepted proposals will be published in the proceedings of the KU Leuven Open Science Day.

• Formats: posters and demos
• Language: English
• Submission: submissions can be made here
• Abstract submission deadline: Wednesday 31 January 2024 (23:59 CET)
• Notification of acceptance: end of March 2024

You can find the full details here. For any queries, please contact openscience@kuleuven.be.

This event is only open to KU Leuven researchers and staff.

The Artes Research team from KU Leuven Libraries Artes and the ABAP council will kick off the new academic year with a special “How Do You Do (It)?” (HDYDI) session dedicated to research data workflows. This special session will coincide with the start of the Digital Scholarship Module taught by the Artes Research team. It will take place on Tuesday 7 November, 13h30-15h30, in the Justus Lipsiuszaal (Erasmushuis, Leuven). Everyone is welcome to attend, you do not need to register!

Program

13h30-14h

To help you through the afternoon slump, we will start with coffee and cookies which will be served in the main entrance hall of the Erasmushuis.

14h10-15h30

We will then move up to the 8^th floor (Justus Lipsiuszaal) to start the session which will feature talks from researchers at the Faculty of Arts who outline their research workflows: how do they approach their research, what tools do they use, with what kind of data are they working, etc. We will get a behind-the-scenes look from:

• Vicente Parrilla López (Musicology)
• Stijn Carpentier (KADOC – Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society)
• Tom Gheldof (Ancient History)

There will be lots of time for questions and getting to know each other’s workflows.

The event will take place in Leuven, but if you would like to join online you can let us know at artesresearch@kuleuven.be and we will provide you with the link.

Keep an eye out for the next HDYDI event that will take place in Spring!

Practical details

• When: Tuesday 7 November, from 13h30 to 15h30
• Where: coffee in main entrance hall and session in Justus Lipsiuszaal (Erasmushuis, Leuven) with online option: if you would like to join online you can let us know at artesresearch@kuleuven.be and we will provide you with the link
• Price: free
• Registration: no registration required

During her time as postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Arts, Houda Lamqaddam prepared introductory materials for data visualization. You can find them on the DH@rts website. Have fun exploring these materials!

A short description of the material by Houda herself: 

Introduction to information visualization techniques for humanistic scholarship

https://zenodo.org/record/7734200: This series is an introduction to the fundamentals of information visualization, particularly as it concerns humanistic scholarship. The series consists of four chapters that cover the following topics: (1) Why visualize?, (2) Getting to data, (3) Choosing and creating a visualization, and (4) Do’s and don’ts of designing data visualizations.  In each chapter, we define fundamental concepts, share examples, simple tips, and additional resources for more in-depth explorations.

Tableau Tutorial

 https://zenodo.org/record/7733937: In this tutorial, we see how we can use the tool Tableau to create visualizations going from simple line charts to complex dashboards. We use a step-by-step approach, starting from uploading and formatting the data to creating linked dashboards. We also provide additional links to external resources and forums that can help you build your Tableau knowledge.

Observable notebook 

https://observablehq.com/d/7827a6a46922e25a: This interactive Observable notebook shows you how you can use a live notebook and Javascript code to develop simple – yet powerful – visualizations of your data. You can run each cell in the notebook, or create your own account to develop custom visualizations that best support your research needs. 

 

This event is only open to KU Leuven researchers and staff. 

Do you need a better system to organize your reference materials? Or do you already work with a reference manager like Zotero, but feel that you’re not taking advantage of all the features of the software? Come join us to learn more about the various Zotero functionalities!

Programme

This session will start with an introduction to the basic functionalities of Zotero including the various ways to add references to your Zotero library, how to incorporate citations into your Microsoft Word documents using the Zotero plug-in, setting up a tagging system, annotating references in Zotero, and generating bibliographies.

Following this introduction, the hands-on session will take place in small groups. During this portion of the workshop, participants will try out all the basics while a group leader is available to help with issues or answer questions. Finally, the workshop will close with a Q&A session and the opportunity to learn about more advanced features of the software.

Practicalities

Target audience: KU Leuven researchers and staff
Date: Monday 15 May 2023
Time: 14:00 – 16:00
Location: MS Teams (link will be sent to participants a few days before the workshop)

The training is free of charge but registration is required. To see full details about the training, including the required preparations, and to register, please visit the OneButton event page.

This event is only open to KU Leuven researchers and staff.

Join us at the annual KU Leuven Open Science day on 2 May!

Program

The KU Leuven Open Science Day is an annual event where KU Leuven researchers from all career stages share knowledge and exchange examples of how they implement Open Science principles in their research. It offers a platform where researchers can inspire, learn from each other and discover how their research can benefit from these principles.

Keynote speakers are Muki Haklay (UCL London) and Thomas Margoni (KU Leuven’s Centre for IT & IP Law). Muki Haklay is a Professor of Geographic Information Science at University College London (UCL) and a renowned Citizen Science expert. He will share his insights with a presentation about Citizen science in Open Science, discussing how Citizen Science fits in. Thomas Margoni will give a talk about the (legal) datafication of Open Science.

Consult the full program on the event website.

Practical details

• When: 2 May
• Where:
  • In-person: at the Irish College (Janseniusstraat 1, 3000 Leuven) – register by 17 April
  • Online: link will be sent a few days before the event – register by 28 April
• Registration: click here to register
• More info: check out the event website for more information

The Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship at McMaster University is pleased to announce that “DS Bytes: A Lunchtime Speaker Series” is now open for registration! The lectures are open to all:  register for all sessions here.

Program

This six-part series includes events on data, artificial intelligence, critical literacy, and social justice. All events have virtual attendance options. 

The full slate includes:

• January 19: “Glitch: Disability, Feminism, Technology” by Adan Jerreat-Poole (Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, University of Waterloo)
• January 31: “How to Lie with Data” panel featuring McMaster University’s Vass Bednar (Director, Public Policy in Digital Society), Cal Biruk (Associate Professor of Anthropology), Jeffrey Demaine (Bibliometrics and Research Impact Librarian), Saman Goudarzi (Cartographic Resources Librarian), Christine Homuth (Spatial Information Specialist), and Subhanya Sivajothy (Data Analysis and Visualization Librarian)
• February 8: “The Value of Visuals in Science Communication” by Mark Belan (Scientific Graphics Journalist)
• February 14: “Urban Heat Islands and Social Inequities: A Data-Driven Story” by Isabelle Bouchard (Data Scientist) and Nael Shiab (Senior Data Producer, CBC)
• March 1: “How to Lie with Visualization” by Gabby Resch (Assistant Professor of Business and Information Technology, Ontario Tech University)
• March 21: “E.Q. vs I.Q.: Testing Artificial Intelligence in Apple’s Siri” by Lai-Tze Fan (Assistant Professor of Sociology & Legal Studies and English Literature, University of Waterloo)

Practical details

• When: January 19 to March 21
• Where: every session can be followed online
• Price: free
• Registration: click here, event URL will be sent via registration email

More info

The Sherman Centre also has a repository of 70+ event recordings, asynchronous webinars, and text guides on Digital Scholarship methods, topics, and approaches including social media research ethics, podcasting, and more.

This event is only open to KU Leuven researchers and staff.

Do you want to know more about depositing, publishing, sharing, and reusing data? Learn all about data sharing best practices, what research data repositories are, and get hands-on experience with RDR, KU Leuven’s institutional research data repository. During this training session, RDM experts at KU Leuven will introduce you to the basics of data sharing and publishing and are there to answer all of your questions on how to share your data in a sustainable and effective way.

Dates and registration

• Tuesday 15 November 2022: 10:00 – 12:00 (LETT 08.16 (top floor of the Erasmushuis) – Blijde-Inkomststraat 21, Leuven)
• Thursday 17 November 2022: 10:00 – 12:00 (online)
• Tuesday 18 April 2023: 10:00 – 12:00 (tbd, somewhere in Leuven or Heverlee)
• Thursday 20 April 2023: 10:00 – 12:00 (online)

Click on the link of the session to register!

Program

Presentations

• Data sharing introduction: Learn what a research data repository is, how to find a repository to share your data on and what to look out for when you want to share your data.
• Metadata & documentation: ​​​​​​Find out how metadata can help make your data mor​e findable and how metadata and documentation are key elements to making your data more FAIR in the data publishing process.
• FAIRification of software: Discover how the FAIR principles can be applied to research software and which practical techniques you can use to achieve this. Examples and code samples will be presented through KU Leuven’s institutional software management platform GitLab.
• RDR introduction: Get to know KU Leuven’s new institutional research data repository. In RDR, you will be shown how all the previously mentioned elements of data sharing are actually put into practice in a research data repository.

Hands-on demo session RDR

During this part of the training session, researchers get the opportunity to try out a demo version of RDR where they can test the repository environment with a ready made dataset that will be provided. Our data sharing experts are there during this session to answer any questions that may come up from the previous presentations or from testing out the repository demo environment. No preparation necessary. It is advised to take a laptop with you if possible.

 

The Open Science Day of KU Leuven is a yearly event for KU Leuven researchers to exchange Open Science experiences. The 2023 edition will be a combination of classical paper presentations, debates, and posters.

We welcome both in-depth analyses of Open Science topics and practical hands-on contributions that focus on best practices. The idea is to explore the opportunities and challenges related to Open Science from a researchers’ point of view. So contributions may showcase the implementation of Open Science principles in a research project, or they may address barriers and difficulties in the journey towards Open Science, discussing small steps which might be taken to tackle them.

The abstracts and slide decks of accepted papers, as well as accepted posters, will be published in the proceedings of the KU Leuven Open Science Day available on PubPub, together with the biography of the presenter(s). Details about this publication (including submission deadlines, which will be at the end of April) will be communicated after notification of acceptance.

Possible topics

• Open Access, the future of scholarly publishing, novel publication formats, preregistration, preprints, choosing a publishing venue, rights retention strategy
• Copyright issues, authorship roles, intellectual property rights, reconciling openness and valorization
• Research data management, FAIR data, open sharing of software, licensing, metadata and reporting standards, repositories
• Open educational resources, sharing and reuse of educational material, integrating Open Science practices in education
• Contributing to Open Science as a supervisor, coping with the challenges of system change as an early career researcher, metrics
• Citizen science and participatory research, collaboration with non-academic partners
• Feel free to make your own Open Science suggestion!

Submission details

All KU Leuven researchers are welcome to apply. We are looking for diverse contributions, from early career researchers and senior academics. To submit a contribution, researchers are kindly requested to provide:

• an abstract, 350 words max
• a short bio, 150 words max
• the presenter’s name and affiliation, as well as contact information
• type of contribution: paper or poster
• contributions will be accepted in English

Closing date for submissions: 8 January 2023. Proposals will be assessed by a committee of Open Science experts and KU Leuven researchers. Notice of acceptance will be given by 4 March 2023.

Send an e-mail to openscience@kuleuven.be to submit your contribution.

Practicalities

• The Open Science day will take place at a hybrid event on 2 May 2023, in Leuven and online (more details will be announced closer to the date).
• Website: https://www.kuleuven.be/open-science/events/2023/open-science-day-2023
• Contact: openscience@kuleuven.be
• Feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions for this study day or for the further development of Open Science at KU Leuven.

This event is only open to KU Leuven researchers and staff.

If you are a PhD student and would like to learn basic RDM skills and how to write a Data Management Plan (DMP), this training is definitely for you!

In the RDM workshop for PhD students, you learn best practices for the management of research data according to the FAIR data principles. We consider the technical, legal, and ethical aspects of research data, how to securely store materials, how to generate documentation and metadata, how to share research data and reuse data shared by others, and more.

This solid grounding in basic RDM skills will help you make informed decisions on how to handle your research data, no matter what your discipline or academic field happens to be. Additionally, you will learn how to write and maintain your own Data Management Plan (DMP). This training is mainly aimed at doctoral researchers, preferably at the start of their PhD or project.

Sessions are organized per group:

• Science, Technology and Engineering: 28/11/22, online (registration link)
• Humanities and Social Sciences: 29/11/22, online (registration link)
• Biomedical Sciences: 02/12/22, online (registration link)

Check out the RDM website for more information about the program and registration, or contact the RDM Support Desk!