Concerns with
Open Science

Jeff Stevens

2025-12-05

Concerns with open science

  1. Publishing open access is too expensive
  1. Having so many open science activities is overwhelming

  1. Preregistration is too strict

  2. Making my materials, data, and analysis information public is scary

  3. Open science conflicts with diversity and inclusion

  1. I don’t know where to start on open science

Welcome to the wonderful world of open science

Meme of person looking at list with words 'Open data or it didn't happen'.

Image: hildebastian.net

What is open science?

Making outputs of research (experimental materials, data sets, analysis code, and publications) publicly available

Illustration of open science with open research data, open research software, open methods, open evaluation, open educational resources, citizen science, open infrastructure, and open access.

Image: University of Potdsam

What does open science do?

Ensures materials are

  • transparent
  • accessible
  • reproducible
  • credible

Fortune cookie fortune that reads 'To succeed, you must share.'

Image: opensource.com

Source: Syed, 2019

Open science activities

  • Preregister hypothesis, methods, and analysis plans
  • Conduct registered reports
  • Use open source software
  • Publicly post experimental materials
  • Publicly post data sets and metadata
  • Publicly post analysis code
  • Publicly post preprints
  • Publish materials with open licenses

Open science activities (cont.)

  • Publish manuscripts in open access journals
  • Archive manuscripts in public repositories
  • Disseminate work to stakeholders and general public
  • Develop open source software
  • Replicate own and others’ research
  • Join large-scale replication projects
  • Use existing data sets for analyses or meta-analyses
  • Teach about/train others in open science practices

Easing into open science

Post from Olivia Smith saying 'I always love it when people say `baby steps!` to imply they're being tentative, when actually baby steps are a great unbalanced, wholehearted enthusiastic lurch into the unknown.

Publication information for Easing into open science: a guide for graduate students and their advisors by Ummu-Kiram Kathawalla, Priya Silverstein, and Moin Syed published in Collabora: Psychology in 2021.

Open science menu

Menu with list of appetizers (preregister, replicate previous study), main dishes (use open source software, post data, post analysis code), and desserts (submit preprint, publish open access).

Menu background: Vicki Hamilton from Pixabay

First steps

  • Open science journal club (CB3 Club)
  • Project workflow
  • Preprints
  • Create an Open Science Framework (OSF) account https://osf.io

Diagram of eight open science tasks categorized into five groups: conceptualization (journal club, project workflow), design (preregistration, registered reports, data sharing planning), analysis (reproducible code), reporting (transparent writing), dissemination (preprints, data sharing).

Source: Kathawalla et al., 2021

Develop an open science mindset

Meme of Morpheus from The Matrix saying 'What if I told you...open science is a mindset'.

Publication information for Developing an open science 'mindset' by Martin S. Hagger published in Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine in 2022.

Open science mindset

Predicated on the assumption that every step of a research project, from inception to dissemination, will be publicly available and made accessible

  • Start by knowing your materials/data/code will be public
  • Work backwards to design workflow based on openness
  • Build in openness/accessibility throughout process

Source: Hagger, 2022

Wrap-up

Summary

  • Open science is a menu
  • Start with the easy stuff
  • Join CB3 Club listserv
  • Create an OSF account
  • Develop an open science mindset
  • Reach out to me with questions