Research Operations

Research Operations Sourcebook

An operating manual for user research operations, organised as rules, principles, guidance and conduct standards across the 8 pillars of ResearchOps.

How to use the sourcebook

The sourcebook is organised like an operating manual. Each pillar contains numbered clauses with a clear marker for rules, principles, guidance or conduct standards.

R Rule
A mandatory operating requirement. Teams must either comply or record an approved exception.
P Principle
A durable judgement standard used to interpret the sourcebook when a specific rule does not cover the situation.
G Guidance
Recommended practice that helps teams meet rules and principles consistently.
C Conduct
A behavioural expectation for people planning, running, supporting or using research.

SB-POS-001

Formal codification layer

The sourcebook is the formal layer on top of existing ReOps community assets. The community provides the pillars, templates, maturity approaches, repository guidance, toolbox thinking and capability material. The sourcebook turns that material into an operating manual with stable provisions and reviewable obligations.

Community foundation

  • 8 pillars of ResearchOps
  • templates and reusable artefacts
  • maturity and capability approaches
  • repository and knowledge-management guidance
  • toolbox and infrastructure thinking
  • community practice material

Sourcebook contribution

  • stable provision identifiers
  • rule, principle, guidance and conduct types
  • applicability and owner expectations
  • evidence expectations
  • related templates and app routes
  • change history and metadata continuity

The 8 pillars

ENVIRO Environment Where and under what conditions can research happen safely, inclusively and effectively? SCOPE Scope What research should happen, who may do it and what level of support or review does it need? PEOP-COMM People What roles, skills, communities and support are needed for responsible research practice? ORG-CONT Organisational context How does research fit the organisation's strategy, governance, funding, decision-making and delivery rhythm? REC-ADMN Recruitment and administration How are participants sourced, invited, consented, supported, paid, tracked and protected throughout the research lifecycle? DATA-STO-ACC Data and knowledge management How is research evidence stored, protected, retrieved, reused and connected to decisions? GOVERN Governance What rules, review gates and escalation routes make research ethical, useful, lawful and consistent? INFRA-PROV Tools and infrastructure What tools, platforms, integrations and support processes make research reliable, secure and scalable?

SB-AM-001

Pace Layers Matrix

Use pace-layer thinking to decide how to adopt the sourcebook. Start with the slower layers that set direction and constraints, then use faster layers to learn, improve and feed evidence back into the operating system.

How to prioritise sourcebook adoption
Pace layer Pillars Adoption question Sourcebook use
Slow Purpose and strategic intent ORG-CONT GOVERN What must research operations make possible for the organisation, and what risk must it reduce? Adopt organisational context and governance clauses first when research lacks sponsorship, authority, funding or ethical boundaries.
Slow to medium Rules, decision rights and scope GOVERN SCOPE Which decisions need clearer rules before teams can move faster with confidence? Use governance and scope clauses to set intake, triage, approval, exception and escalation routes.
Medium Infrastructure and knowledge systems INFRA-PROV DATA-STO-ACC Which shared systems need to become stable before research can be reused or scaled? Use infrastructure and data clauses to prioritise tooling, repository, access, retention, taxonomy and integration work.
Medium to fast Participant operations and research settings REC-ADMN ENVIRO Where are participants, researchers or delivery teams feeling avoidable friction or risk? Use recruitment and environment clauses to improve sourcing, consent, scheduling, participant care, accessibility, fieldwork and remote settings.
Fast Practice, support and habits PEOP-COMM SCOPE What can teams practise, learn or standardise now while slower operating decisions mature? Use people and scope clauses to shape coaching, community standards, self-service support, methods guidance and visible operating learning.

Using the matrix

  1. Map the current research operations pressure points against the 8 pillars.
  2. Decide which pace layer each pressure point belongs to: strategic intent, governance, infrastructure, service workflow or day-to-day practice.
  3. Prioritise slow-layer work when teams lack direction, decision rights or safe constraints.
  4. Prioritise fast-layer work when teams need quick learning, visible relief or evidence for a larger operating change.
  5. Review the matrix every quarter so learning from fast work updates slower rules, standards and investment decisions.

Operating patterns

SB-OP-001

Consent and privacy statement generator

Use structured questions to produce clear participant-facing consent and privacy statements, so researchers spend less time translating governance requirements and participants receive better explanations.

Related pillars
GOVERN, REC-ADMN, DATA-STO-ACC
Operating intent
Make consent and privacy review faster without weakening human accountability, legal review or participant agency.
Source
researchops/consentform

Sourcebook quality gates

SB-QG-001

8-pillar completeness

The sourcebook must contain exactly the 8 ResearchOps pillars, each with a code, route, definition, owner, operating question, sections and clauses.

SB-QG-002

Clause model integrity

Every clause must have a stable identifier, content type, status, effective date, title, text, applies-to audience and evidence expectation.

SB-QG-003

Metadata continuity

Sourcebook pages must render Dublin Core, RDFa and SKOS metadata for the sourcebook, pillar, section and clause concepts.

SB-QG-004

Handbook readability

Rules, principles, guidance and conduct standards must be distinguishable in navigation, page headings and clause badges.

SB-QG-005

REC-ADMN reference quality

REC-ADMN must include the full operating cycle for recruitment: operating model, sourcing, consent, privacy, incentives, scheduling, participant care, reporting and learning.

Attribution

  • ResearchOps Community - The 8 pillars of ResearchOps are used as the sourcebook's primary taxonomy.
  • Research That Scales by Kate Towsey - Conceptual benchmark for operating-system language, planning, value framing, maturity and scale. No source text is reproduced.
  • researchops/consentform - Conceptual benchmark for simplifying privacy and consent statements through structured questions and generated participant-facing wording. No source text is reproduced.