*[WORK IN PROGRESS]* @[toc](Information for OU researchers) ---------- ## What is the OSF? ## ---------------- The OSF is a web-based open-source research project management tool that supports researchers throughout the project lifecycle. It facilitates collaboration, connects services across the research lifecycle, archives data, materials, and other research objects for private use or public sharing. The OSF is developed by the Center of Open Science (COS), a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase openness, integrity, and reproducibility of research. - As a collaboration tool, OSF helps research teams work on projects privately or make publicly accessible for broad dissemination. - As a workflow system, OSF enables connections to the many products researchers already use, streamlining their process and increasing efficiency. - Researchers can manage files, data, code, and protocols in one centralized location and easily build custom organization for their unique needs. - Integrated metadata support on project level improves findability and reuse of research materials. Soon content on OSF will support FAIR metadata for all files, which will even further enhance responsible preservation and discovery. ## How to connect an (existing) OSF account to your OU account ## ----------------------------------------------------------- OU researchers can make use of OSF by logging in with their OU credentials. You can either create a new OSF account and choose "Sign up using Institution" ([OSF Guide][1]) or add your OU login to your existing OSF account ([OSF Guide][2]). If you are already registered with your OU email address this will happen automatically. ## Affiliate projects and registrations with the OU ## ------------------------------------------------ You can affiliate your projects ([OSF Guide][3]) and registrations with the OU ([OSF Guide][4]) ## Guidelines ## ---------------- See the [OU OSF Guidelines][5] to learn about best practices and practical recommendations on how to use the OSF in combination with OU-approved tools and software. ---------- IMPORTANT: **Actively choose "Germany - Frankfurt" in the account settings as default storage location when you start a new project. Your research data will be stored in the EU jurisdiction.** [1]: https://help.osf.io/article/271-create-an-osf-account [2]: https://help.osf.io/article/238-add-a-new-email-address-to-your-account [3]: https://help.osf.io/article/192-affiliate-an-osf-project-with-an-institution [4]: https://help.osf.io/article/193-affiliate-a-registration-with-an-institution [5]: https://osf.io/k37qj