Scholars increasingly work on collaborative research projects. Collaborative projects often bring together partners across disciplines, institutions, and sectors. These projects present opportunities for innovation but also raise challenges for the development of efficient and effective workflows and the management of data.
There are many tools available that can be used to support these types of projects. University business conducted using University tools is in compliance with University regulations and policy. Review the Collaboration Tools Matrix to ensure you using tools in compliance with University policies for Data Security.
Collaborative Tools
Open Science Framework
Project Management Tool
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- OSF is a free and open source project management tool that supports researchers throughout their entire project lifecycle.
- Manage which parts of a project are public or private, making it easier to collaborate and share with the community or just your team. Collaborate with colleagues around the world, whether or not they are at Harvard, and access your research after you leave.
- Built-in project management tools support all stages of coursework, research, and other scholarly projects.
- You can upload anything — datasets, documents, slides, readings, syllabi, datasets, codebases — and create unique identifiers for each.
- Easy-to-use dashboard allows you to manage settings like version control, public/private sharing, and 3rd party integrations. OSF connects to many other products including Dropbox, GitHub, Google Drive, Zotero, and more.
- OSF is recognized by major funding bodies (e.g., NIH, NSF, etc.) as a data repository for sharing research materials.
- Harvard is a member of OSF for Institutions allowing Harvard affiliates to create an account or login to OSF using their Harvard Key and public OSF projects from Harvard affiliates will be featured on Harvard's OSF institutional page.
- Get started and signup for a free OSF account!
protocols.io
Optimize Your Research Methods
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- protocols.io is a collaborative platform and preprint server for methods and protocols
- Allows you to create step-by-step detailed, interactive, and dynamic protocols that can be run on mobile or web.
- This platform is helpful for researchers in any discipline that uses a step-by-step methodology, including life sciences, engineering, chemistry, data science, and computational social sciences.
- Get started and sign up for a free account at protocols.io"!
- protocols.io Premium is available free to Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health users. Find out more and claim your premium account.
Data Analytics Software
RStudio & R
An integrated development environment (IDE) for R- RStudio includes a console with syntax-highlighting that supports direct code execution, as well as tools for plotting, history, debugging and workspace management.
Click here to view RStudio features. - RStudio is available on HMS O2 servers, including maintaining your own personal R package Personal R Package library.
SAS
Statistical Analysis Software- Statistical software suite for data management, advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, and predictive analytics
- The department of Health Care Policy manages SAS licensing for the Medical and Dental Schools
- Send an email to the Department of Health Care Policy for more information or to arrange for software installation
SPSS
Statistical Product and Service Solutions- Software package used for interactive, or batched, statistical analysis
- SPSS can be purchased using Harvard OnTheHub (Harvard Key login required)
Tableau
Data Analytics and Visualization Tool- Tableau allows you to present your data in a wide array of visual formats, which can often provide insights that are not obvious when looking at a grid of numbers
- Tableau is the preferred Data Analytics and Visualization Tool at HMS. Find out more about Tableau and request access
- Students can download Tableau for free
- You can also take advantage of Harvard Library Data Visualization Support
NVivo
Qualitative Data Analysis Software- NVivo is a professional-level software program for qualitative research
- NVivo can be used for image annotation (maps, photos, diagrams) and interview analysis (video, audio, transcript, field notes)
- Harvard's FAS community can download NVivo for free
- Students can purchase NVivo at a discount