Introduction to version control with Git in RStudio – Educational resources for teaching Open Research to novices

Introduction to version control with Git in RStudio

---
title: "Introduction to version control with Git in RStudio"
---

> Git it together.

[Click here to see the materials in full screen](git-slides.qmd)

```{=html}
<iframe class="slide-deck" src="git-slides.html" height="420" width="747" style="border: 1px solid #2e3846;"></iframe>
```

## About these materials

::: {.callout-warning collapse="true"}
## Citation statement
Please cite these materials as: Von Grebmer zu Wolfsthurn, S., Edelsbrunner, P., Ihle, M., & Schönbrodt, F. (2026). *Introduction to version control with Git in RStudio* [Quarto slides]. [LMU Open Science Center](https://www.osc.lmu.de/). [https://lmu-osc.github.io/teaching-material-for-novices/open-research-tools/git](https://lmu-osc.github.io/teaching-material-for-novices/open-research-tools/git)
:::

**Welcome!** This workshop is intended with a foundational **understanding of version control** and practical skills to **apply version control** to their own workflows. Here, we will learn about tools that can help us increase the transparency of our work to ourselves and the people we work with, by **tracking the changes we make** to our work in a systematic manner. This way, others (and our future selves) can follow the steps and decision making process. 

::: {.callout-important}
## Longer delivery time for these materials
In contrast to other materials, the estimate delivery time for these materials is approximately **3 hours**. If you have a shorter lesson slot, you can find a proposed lesson plan in the instructor notes in the slides.
:::

### Who are these materials for?

- **Educators** in higher education with or without familiarity with open research planning to **teach open research** to **novices**
- **Self-learners** with no or limited familiarity with open research planning to **develop and build** up on their open research skills

### Prerequisites

<div style="font-size: 0.8em;">
| Prerequisite   |  Description  | Link/Where to find it   |
|------------|------------|------------|
| Laptop/PC with internet access | Admin rights for downloading/installing software | - |
| R and RStudio installed | Latest versions of both R and RStudio |  [https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/](https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/) |
| Basic R skills | Introduction to R - Part I | [Access here](https://lmu-osc.github.io/teaching-material-for-novices/open-research-tools/r-part-I/) |
| Advanced R skills | Introduction to R - Part II | [Access here]([Access here](https://lmu-osc.github.io/teaching-material-for-novices/open-research-tools/r-part-II/))  |
| GitHub account | Your own GitHub account | Join at [https://github.com/join](https://github.com/join) |
</div>

### Learning objectives

At the end of this session, you or your learners will be able to ...

- **Understand** the problem(s) that can be solved by version control
- **Install** and **configure** Git 
- **Set up** the connection between your computer and GitHub
- **Create** an RStudio Project under version control for a reproducible workflow
- **Make** changes within RStudio and **commit** changes locally
- **Connect** local and remote repositories for your work

### Supplementary files

<a href="assets/example_data.csv"
   download="example_data.csv"
   class="btn btn-primary">
  Download the example data as csv file
</a>

<a href="assets/practice_data.csv"
   download="practice_data.csv"
   class="btn btn-primary">
  Download the practice data as csv file
</a>

### Export slides

You can export these slides as MS PowerPoint (.pptx - *in progress*) or pdf by clicking below. Note that basic formatting will be applied to the PowerPoint file.

<!-- download as pdf button -->
<a href="git-slides.pdf"
   download="git-slides.pdf"
   class="btn btn-primary">
  Download slides as PDF
</a>

## Contributors and licence details

**Creator**: Von Grebmer zu Wolfsthurn, Sarah (![ORCID Logo](https://orcid.org/sites/default/files/images/orcid_16x16.png)[ 0000-0002-6413-3895](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6413-3895))

**Reviewer**: Ihle, Malika (![ORCID Logo](https://orcid.org/sites/default/files/images/orcid_16x16.png)[0000-0002-3242-5981](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3242-5981))

**Reviewer**: Schönbrodt, Felix (![](images/ORCID-iD_icon_16x16.png){fig-alt="orcid logo"} [0000-0002-8282-3910](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8282-3910))

**Consultant**: Edelsbrunner, Peter (![ORCID Logo](https://orcid.org/sites/default/files/images/orcid_16x16.png)[0000-0001-9102-1090](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9102-1090))

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<p style="text-align:center;">
  <img src="images/cc-by-sa.png"
       alt="CC BY 4.0"
       style="height:50px;">
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<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; padding: 0.05em; border-radius: 2px; font-size: 0.8em;">
This work was originally created by [Mike Croucher ](https://github.com/mikecroucher) under a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en) (CC-BY 4.0). It was subsequently adapted by [Malika Ihle](https://www.osc.lmu.de/people/people/malika-ihle.html) during her time at Reproducible Research Oxford. This current work by Sarah von Grebmer zu Wolfsthurn, Peter Edelsbrunner, Malika Ihle and Felix Schönbrodt  is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International SA License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) (CC-BY-SA-4.0). Code snippets are dedicated to the public domain and are licensed under a [Creative Commons Universal License](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) (CC0 1.0).
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