Open research methods
Open research methods make it possible to draw on the experiences of earlier studies. They simplify systematic reviews in which the results of multiple studies are combined. Through open research methods, researchers can avoid spending resources on developing approaches that already exist.
Benefiting from others’ methods
Open research methods involve making parts of the research process available for others to consult, verify, or reuse. This can include anything from research protocols and code to analytical tools and documentation.
Working with open research methods means that researchers share information in different ways about how the research has been carried out. This may include, for example:
- publishing research plans
- preregistering hypotheses
- making code and analytical tools available
- documenting decisions made during the research process.
Such documentation can be made available in open repositories, research diaries, or as supplementary material to publications.
Access to methodological information can facilitate peer-review, support understanding of results, and in some cases enable the replication of analyses. How, and to what extent, methods can be open depends on the research field, data types, availability of technical tools, and ethical and legal considerations. Several research funders and journals now require, or recommend, greater openness in method reporting.