Metaresearch and Open Science Program

Publications on Google Scholar.

Selected publications:

• Cobey, K.D., Haustein, S., Brehaut, J.., Dirnagl, U., Franzen, D.L., Hemkens, L.G., Presseau, J., Riedel, N, Strech, D., Alperin, J.P., Costas, R., Sena, E.S., van Leewen, T., Ardern, C.L., Bacellar, I.O.L., et al., (2023). Community consensus on core open science practices to monitor in biomedicine. PLoS Biology, 21(1), e30019490.
• Cobey, K.D., Liu, P.P. (2022). A call to embrace a culture of openness in cardiovascular research. European Heart Journal, ehac189.
• Brandts-Longtin, O., Lalu, M.M., Adie, E.A., Albert, M.A., Almoli, E., Almoli, F., Bryson, G.L., Dony, C., Dunleavy, D., Grudniewicz, A., Lehmann, C., Lhoest, R., Moher, D., Montroy, J., Pitts, M., Ricketts, A., Thirion, P., Cobey, K.D. (2022). Assessing the impact of predatory journals on policy and guidance documents: a cross-sectional study protocol. BMJ Open, 12 (4), e059445
• Richards, D.P., Cobey, K.D., Proulx, L., Dawson, S., de Wit, M., Toupin-April, K.(2022). Identifying potential barriers and solutions to patient partner compensation (payment) in research. Research Involvement and Engagement, 8 (1), 1-11.
• Cobey, K.D., Monfaredi, Z., Poole, E., Proulx, L., Fergusson, D., Moher, D. (2021). Editor-in-Chiefs perceptions of patients as (co) authors on publications and the acceptability of the ICMJE authorship criteria: a cross-sectional survey. Research Involvement and Engagement, 7, 39.
• Grudniewicz, A., Moher, D., Cobey, K.D., Bryson, G.L., et al., (2019). Predatory Journals: No definition, no defence. Nature, 576 (7786), 210-212.
• Cobey, K.D., Grudniewicz, A., Lalu, M., Rice, D., Raffoul, H., Moher, D. (2019). Knowledge and motivations of researchers publishing in presumed predatory journals: a survey. BMJ Open, 9 (3), e026516. 
• Cobey, K.D., Fergusson, D., Moher, D. (2017). Canadian funders and institutions are lagging on reporting results of clinical trials. CMAJ, 189 (42), E1302-E1303.
• Cobey, K.D. (2017). Illegitimate journals scam even senior scientists. Nature, 549, 7.
• Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Cobey, K.D., Galipeau, J., Avey, M.T., Lalu, M.M. et al., (2017). Stop this waste of people, animals and money. Nature, 549, 23-25.

Team Lead

Dr. Kelly Cobey - Scientist
Dr. Kelly Cobey is a scientist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, and leader of the Meta-Research and Open science Program. She is also an Associate Professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Cobey holds a number of national and international leadership positions in the meta-research community. Since 2015, she has been a member of EQUATOR Canada which provides educational outreach and support for the use of reporting guidelines. She also presently sits on the Advisory Board of DORA (Declaration on Research Assessment) which aims to drive the use of more responsible metrics to evaluate research and researchers and serves on the Science Policy Committee for Research Data Canada. Kelly is also trained as a Social Psychologist. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outside with her family, cycling, and camping.

Team Member - Research Staff

Marc Antonino Albert
Marc is a research coordinator with the Metaresearch and Open Science program. He recently completed his MSc. in Health Systems at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management. His thesis research focused on investigating the trustworthiness of research cited in public health policy documents, with a specific focus on predatory journal citations. Throughout his master’s Marc worked closely with the BLUEPRINT Translational Research Group at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), where he contributed to several projects relating to knowledge translation. Marc has also collaborated on various projects with OHRI’s Centre for Journalology. In the summer of 2022, Marc completed a research internship at the North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (NAO) at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Marc completed his BSc. in Biomedical Science at the University of Ottawa in 2021, for which he conducted his Honours thesis research in the Vanderhyden Ovarian Cancer Research Lab at the OHRI. In his spare time, Marc is an avid sports fan who enjoys playing and watching several sports, especially hockey and soccer.

Janina Ramos
Janina is a research assistant with the Metaresearch and Open Science Program. She completed her BSc (Honours) in Biomedical Science at the University of Ottawa, during which she completed CO-OP placements and work terms with the Centre for Journalology at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Through the Centre for Journalology she contributed to several projects and publications evaluating training in peer review, creating educational modules on topics in publication science for the EQUATOR Network, and resources in research data management. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting, crocheting, and playing volleyball.

Edward Xu
Edward Xu is an open science methodologist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. He holds a Bachelor of Science with a joint major in Physiology and Physics from McGill University, a Specialization in Biology from Concordia University, and a Master's degree in Biotechnology from Columbia University. His previous research has concentrated on the brain and heart in both preclinical and clinical settings. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and playing various sports. 

Team Members – Graduate Students

Anna Armond
Dr. Anna Catharina Armond is a postdoctoral fellow at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Centre for Journalology. Her current research focus is on best research data management practices in biomedicine. Dr. Armond is a dentistry graduate and holds a PhD in Health Sciences in the program of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, from the University of Debrecen, Hungary. Dr. Armond has worked on several European projects on meta-research, and research ethics and integrity. She is also a co-founder of the Embassy of Good Science platform.

Chantal Ripp
Chantal Ripp is a doctoral student in the Digital Transformation and Innovation Program and a research librarian at the University of Ottawa. Her research interests examine how research collaboration patterns influence how authors affiliated with federal science-based departments and agencies follow the Canadian government’s Roadmap for Open Science in open access publishing and open research data. As a research librarian, Chantal’s responsibilities include supporting data services, data literacy and outreach, and access to government information. Chantal was a member of the University's Research Data Management (RDM) Advisory Group that lead the development of the institutional RDM Strategy published in 2023. Prior to joining uOttawa, Chantal held a career in the federal public service, working in areas related to data management, open government, and open science for more than a decade. She brings a wealth of experience in terms of teaching, scholarship, and research support, including stakeholder engagement, policy development, open access scholarship, knowledge mobilization, and RDM. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and is a member of her local public library's book club.

Mohsen Alayche
Mohsen is currently in his final year of medical school at the University of Ottawa. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science with a minor in Music and also completed a year of law school. He worked on research projects in emergency medicine (at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario), thoracic surgery (at the Ottawa Hospital), and at the Centre for Journalology (at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute). He has also completed a summer internship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in a Neuro-Oncology laboratory. As an aspiring clinical researcher, he recognizes the importance of evidence-based medicine that is published with scientific integrity. His hobbies include hiking and playing the piano.

Camille Mallet
Camille is a medical student in clerkship at the University of Ottawa. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry and has also completed a year in Kinesiology. Her bachelor’s thesis focused on studying the lipoxygenase mediators pathway. Prior to joining the team, Camille has amassed over 10 years of experience as a pharmacy assistant. She has also previously worked with the Vitalite Health Network on clinical research with a particular emphasis on nephrology. As a bilingual individual from a rural town, Camille is interested in reducing barriers to healthcare access for rural patients. In her spare time, she enjoys baking with sourdough and going camping.

Team Members – Undergraduate Students

Faris Almoli
Faris is a BSc Honours Life Sciences student specializing in sensory motor systems at McMaster University. Faris currently works with the Knowledge Synthesis and Application Unit (KSAU) of the University of Ottawa on various systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Faris has a strong interest in methods of systematic reviews, open science, and the intersection between policy and health.

Farah Abu-Dalfa
Farah is an undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa, completing an Honours BSocSc in Political Science. She is currently completing her coop placement at the Meta-research and Open Science Program where she is working on a range of projects and leading one related to patient engagement in cardiovascular research. With a solid foundation in political science and a keen interest for healthcare, Farah brings a unique perspective to the intersection of these fields. She is interested in creating meaningful change and improving healthcare outcomes by advocating for patient centred policies and accessible publications. In her spare time, Farah enjoys staying up to date on international issues, watching documentaries, and photography.

Kailyn Mackinnon

Kailyn is a BSc Biomedical Science student at the University of Ottawa. As part of her co-op program, she is currently working as a research assistant at the Meta-research and Open Science Program, where she leads a project on Patient Engagement in Cardiovascular Research. She is the Vice President of UIntegrate, a mental health club at the University of Ottawa that was founded out of a profound need for human connection during the pandemic. Her own interests are deeply rooted in psychology and neuroscience. Outside of work, her hobbies include yoga, snowboarding, and hockey. 

Nana Yaa Barnes
Nana Yaa is an undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa, pursuing a BHSc (Honours) in Health Sciences. She has previously worked as a research assistant with the Telfer School of Management and as a volunteer with different organizations. As an aspiring pediatrician, Nana Yaa understands that before clinical work can be performed, information must be available to all, and she advocates for unrestricted medical care for everyone. In her spare time, Nana Yaa enjoys reading novels, swimming, and writing music.

Monitoring Open Science

Dr. Cobey is the PI on a UK Wellcome Trust Funded program that has brought the international community together to agree upon a core set of open science practices to monitor at biomedical institutions (Cobey et al., 2023; PLoS Biology). This work addresses three themes: 1) deriving consensus on open science practices; 2) developing tools to monitor open science performance; and 3) creating behaviour change and adoption of open science monitoring. We are presently developing a tool to automate the monitoring of 19 practices institutions agreed upon. This work involves extensive stakeholder engagement and international collaboration. Our next steps will be to validate the automated dashboard and to implement it within the community and monitor uptake.

Data management and sharing

Dr. Cobey was funded as a PI by Alliance Canada to initiate at Data Champions Program to foster discussion, educate the biomedical community, and create support needed for researchers to change their practices and adopt behaviours that will see them adhering to novel mandates in this area. A key outcome of this program was a recent national symposium held in March 2023. We are presently seeking additional funding to scale up this work. The next phase of this program will be built from educational outputs from a grant previously completed for Compute Ontario where we developed e-learning modules pertaining to data handling.

Patient engagement in research

Patient engagement, or community engagement more broadly, is part of the suite of practices under the umbrella of open science. It involves embedding patient voices within research teams and can be effective to support selection of appropriate research topics, research approaches, research outcomes, and in effective knowledge translation. Dr. Cobey has seed funding from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute ORACLE precision medicine fund to explore current practices pertaining to patient engagement in cardiovascular research, including barriers and facilitators. This will build from her related research pertaining to how to involve patient partners as authors (Cobey et al., 2022; Research Involvement and Engagement) and how to appropriately compensate patients (Richards et al., 2021; Research Involvement and Engagement).

Predatory journals

Dr. Cobey is co-leading a program of research with Drs. David Moher and Manoj Lalu to  identify characteristics of dubious predatory journals (Moher et al., 2017 Nature; Clemens et al., 2017 The Oncologist), describing who publishes in these outlets (Cobey, 2017 Nature, Cobey et al., 2018 BMJ Open), and working to develop a consensus definition of what predatory journals are (Cobey et al., 2018 F1000; Grudniewicz et al., 2019; Nature). We are now working to establish policies and tools to safeguard research from ending up in predatory journals (Lalu et al., 2017, Nature Human Behaviour).

Open science and cardiovascular research

As part of the recently funded Canada First Research Excellence Fund Brain-Heart Interconnectome, Dr. Cobey is leading a cross-cutter initiative to embed open science best practices in all research outputs. She will also be extensively involved in establishing data governance structures and creating and implementing a brain-heart collaborative portal. This work relates to her broader initiative to study and implement open science in cardiovascular research (Cobey and Liu, 2022).

To enquire about available positions or graduate trainee opportunities, please submit your CV with an e-mail detailing what you can bring to the team.

Contact: @email