PURE FAQs

1. University Of Reading PURE implementation

1.1 What will PURE be used for?

PURE will bring together information about researchers, research activity and research outputs and provide a platform for managing and presenting research information.

It will support:

  • research reporting and management
  • researcher profiles and visibility
  • REF preparation and reporting
  • recording research impact, engagement and other activities
  • promotion and recognition processes
  • making the University's research more discoverable to internal and external audiences

 

2. What does PURE mean for me?

2.1 Who will have an internal PURE profile?

All research staff, research students (including PGR and MPhil students) and technicians will have an internal PURE profile by default.

Relevant Professional Services colleagues involved in research may also be able to have a profile, depending on their role.

2.2 Who will be using PURE?

PURE will be used by a range of colleagues involved in research, including researchers, research students, technicians, research support and specialist services, and colleagues with responsibilities for managing or reviewing research information.

Some colleagues will have more extensive access or responsibilities than others.

2.3 What about research students?

Research students, including PGR and MPhil students, will have an internal PURE profile by default.

Students will be encouraged to use PURE and add relevant information about their research. PURE provides an opportunity to build a visible research profile and highlight research interests, expertise, outputs and other research activity.

Further information specifically for research students will be provided as part of the implementation.

2.4 Will I need to keep my internal PURE profile up to date?

Keeping your internal PURE profile accurate and up to date will help ensure that information about your research is current and correctly represented.

Internal information will be used to support REF and, in the longer term, other internal processes such as promotion and workload models. Therefore, it is good practice to regularly review and update your information.

Internal profiles will also form the basis of your public PURE profile.

 

3. PURE Public Profiles

3.1 What is my PURE public profile?

Your PURE public profile is a professional showcase of your research, expertise and achievements. From the University's perspective, it helps make our research more visible and accessible to external audiences.

It can help external colleagues, potential collaborators, funders and other audiences discover more about your research and areas of expertise.

3.2 What information will appear on my PURE public profile?

Your public profile can include:

  • your name, role and organisational affiliation
  • research interests and expertise
  • publications and research outputs
  • research projects
  • awards
  • impact
  • prizes and recognition
  • media activity and professional contributions
  • research datasets
  • other research activities

 Not all information held in your internal PURE profile will be publicly visible. Some information will be available only to appropriate internal users (i.e. applications), while users will be able to choose whether certain activities and achievements are made public.

Research outputs made public through approved workflows will appear publicly, and awards information will generally be public unless it is confidential.

Further guidance will be provided on what information will be publicly visible and what researchers need to do to review or manage their information before it is published.

3.3 Do I have a public profile?

Research staff, research students and technician portal profiles will be public by default. Individuals will also be able to opt out or request that their profile is not made public.

3.4 Where does my information come from and do I have to enter it manually?

No and yes. PURE will draw information from a range of existing University and external research systems, but will also be enriched by what you add.

Information will be sourced from a range of systems, including:

  • iTrent – staff information
  • RISIS – research student information
  • Worktribe – research applications andresearch awards*
  • CentAUR – historic publications and outputs (for pre-go live outputs)

 * Worktribe integration will be introduced as the relevant Worktribe functionality is implemented

Integrations with external research systems will be introduced progressively throughout the implementation programme and will not be available at the initial go-live. The external systems we are looking at are as follows:

  • Newsflo – for press and media mentions
  • Scopus – for publication and citation data
  • Web of Science – for publication and citation data
  • ORCID – for publication and citation data
  • Crossref – for publication metadata and information
  • DataCite – for research dataset metadata and DOI information
  • Altmetric – for attention and engagement with research outputs
  • PlumX – for metrics on engagement and attention relating to research outputs
  • SciVal – for research performance and impact data
  • Espacenet – for patent information

This means that for many categories of information users will be reviewing, verifying and enhancing information rather than creating everything from scratch. However, researchers will be required to add information, not previously captured and recorded in a systematic way, to PURE including prizes, other activities (conferences, visits and external roles).

3.5 What about research awards and projects?

Information about research awards and projects will eventually form part of the research information held in PURE.

This information will be provided from REIO pre-award and costing systems. However, there is work to replace these and we will updating in due course about when this information will come over and the extent of the data.

 

4. PURE and Other Systems

4.1 Where will research information be held and managed?

PURE will become the University's primary research information system and the source system for research outputs and researcher profiles. It will also provide a future platform for REF preparation and reporting.

PURE will work alongside other systems that support distinct aspects of research information and management:

  • CentAUR, which will remain the University's full-text research repository
  • The Research Data Archive, which will continue to provide a dedicated service for research data
  • Worktribe, which will provide enhanced support for the management of research applications andresearch awards and, as additional modules are introduced, other post-award activity including timesheets.
  • Power BI, which will continue to be used where aggregation and advanced reporting are required

Information will be shared between PURE and these systems where appropriate, with the integration between PURE and Worktribe being introduced as the relevant Worktribe functionality is implemented.

4.2 Will PURE replace CentAUR?

No. CentAUR will remain the University's full-text research repository. PURE will become the new front end for CentAUR and store the metadata. From go-live outputs will no longer be deposited in CentAUR - they will need to be deposited via PURE instead. All other requirements for deposit (including deposit and Open Access rules) remain unchanged.

4.3 Will PURE replace the ROSS Tool?

Yes. Research Outputs will no longer be nominated for assessment for REF via the ROSS Tool in Centaur. Functionality in Pure will allow researchers to nominate outputs for assessment directly in Pure.

The ROSS tool in CentAUR will be decommissioned once the REF reviews feature in Pure is live.

4.4 Will PURE replace the Research Data Archive?

No. The Research Data Archive will continue to provide a dedicated service for the University's research data.

Information about research datasets may be included in PURE profiles and research information, helping users discover research data and related research activity. PURE does not replace the Research Data Archive as the University's repository for research data.

4.5 How will PURE and WorkTribe work Together?

Worktribe is the system for the management of research applications and research awards and, as the relevant Worktribe modules are introduced,  other post-award activity including timesheets.

Worktribe will provide information about research applications and awards to PURE through an integration between the two systems so that researchers can make visible their awarded project information. This integration is intended to reduce the need for researchers to enter the same information in both systems.

4.6 Will PURE change how research is reported?

PURE will provide a central source of research information to support University reporting, research management and planning. It will also support future REF preparation and reporting, as well as activities such as promotion and recognition.

PURE will not replace all existing reporting tools. For example, Power BI will continue to be used where aggregated data and advanced reporting are required.

More information will be provided about how PURE will be used for specific reporting processes as implementation progresses.

 

5. Further Information

5.1 Where can I find out more?

Further information about the PURE implementation, including key dates, guidance and updates, will be available on the PURE project webpage

We will continue to communicate with the research community as the implementation progresses and provide more detailed information about what researchers need to do and when.