Science Integrity Alliance asks Dr Anja Harrison, Co-Founder and CEO of The Collaborative Library.

[SIA] Tell us about The Collaborative Library (TCL). What problem were you trying to solve?

[AH] The Collaborative Library was created to address a persistent gap in research culture: high-quality science often remains inaccessible, fragmented or poorly translated beyond academic journals. At its core, TCL connects researchers, students and the public through transparent, quality-checked knowledge sharing. We build open, reusable research summaries, educational resources and multimedia outputs that make evidence understandable and usable.

[SIA] TCL works across education, open science, and research integrity. How does your model bring these together?

[AH] We see these areas as inseparable. Research integrity isn’t just about avoiding misconduct; rather, it’s about how knowledge is produced, assessed, communicated and reused. Thus, our model combines expert-vetted summaries, structured quality checklists and authentic student-produced outputs. This allows integrity, openness and education to reinforce one another, rather than operating as separate compliance activities.

[SIA] A distinctive feature of TCL is its emphasis on co-production. Why is this important?

[AH] Co-production changes who gets to participate in knowledge creation. Students and early-career researchers are not just learning about research; they are actively contributing to public-facing outputs that meet professional standards. This approach builds research literacy, ethical awareness and real-world skills, while also increasing the volume of high-quality, openly licensed accessible research content available to wider audiences.

[SIA] You currently collaborate with the Science Integrity Alliance through MIRROR, one of its resource hubs. Can you tell us more about that partnership?

[AH] Through MIRROR, we partnered with Science Integrity Alliance (SIA) to develop short, accessible video summaries of key meta-research findings. These focus on how science evaluates itself, from publication bias to reproducibility and research incentives. The collaboration combined SIA’s expertise in research integrity with TCL’s experience in open education and co-created multimedia design. The resulting videos are freely available, reusable and designed to support teaching, training and public engagement globally.

Explore MIRROR’s searchable collection

[SIA] Why focus specifically on meta-research for this project?

[AH] Meta-research helps us understand how science works, not just what it finds. It exposes systemic pressures, incentive structures and methodological weaknesses that individual studies can’t reveal on their own. Making this type of research accessible is essential if we want meaningful conversations about trust, transparency and improvement in science.

[SIA] TCL places strong emphasis on open licensing and reuse. Why does that matter?

[AH] Open science only works if materials can be adapted to local contexts. All TCL outputs are designed for reuse — in teaching, training, policy, or public communication to reduce barriers. This allows institutions, especially those with fewer resources, to benefit from materials, which they are able to tailor to their own regulatory and cultural environments.

[SIA] Finally, what’s next for The Collaborative Library?

[AH] We’re continuing to expand partnerships with universities, journals and research-integrity organizations, as well as more mainstream journalistic outlets to scale both content and impact. That includes more multimedia resources, deeper engagement with various communities and new ways for students and researchers to contribute meaningful, citable outputs. Our aim remains simple: to strengthen research culture by making good (and sometimes bad) science visible and understandable.