The Center for Open Science (COS) is introducing the Open Scholarship Training for Researchers Series, a collection of seven self-paced online courses developed by COS in response to what researchers have told us they actually need. Enrollment is now open for the first two courses, with additional courses launching through Winter 2026.
The series is designed for anyone who conducts or supports research at any stage, including graduate students, librarians and research administrators, PIs, and research coordinators. Each course focuses on a core open scholarship practice and uses examples drawn from real research.
Practical Skills, Flexible Learning
The courses are self-paced, with up to six months to complete and no prerequisites required. Participants can expect to gain practical knowledge that they can apply immediately, greater confidence in their methods and data, and downloadable resources to save and share with their teams. The series also helps researchers stay ahead of evolving funder and journal mandates for open scholarship practices.
“We wanted to add flexible training options for independent scholars and those who are at institutions where it may be challenging to gather funds or find time for synchronous group training,” said Crystal Steltenpohl, Training and Education Manager at COS. “This allows scholars to work at their own pace and get a baseline understanding of the content. We also provide access to additional resources to allow people to dive deeper on the practices that are most relevant to the work they do, and to understand both the benefits and drawbacks of each practice. We hope that this helps people feel more confident about their ability to engage in open scholarship to strengthen their research transparency and integrity.”
What the Series Covers
The series covers seven topics across the research lifecycle, rolling out through Winter 2026:
A Credential That Travels With You
Completing a course and passing its assessment earns participants a verified digital badge from COS that can be added to a CV, LinkedIn profile, website, or email signature.
One badge is awarded per course; complete each of the courses to build a full portfolio of open scholarship competencies.
About the Cost
All course materials are freely available on the OSF. The $100 course fee covers the structured assessment and the verified badge and allows us to offer discounts to scholars for whom the fees pose a financial barrier.
A great place to start is Fundamentals of Open Scholarship, our introductory course covering core open scholarship practices and how they support more transparent, accessible, and reproducible research.
For those already familiar with open scholarship, the course can serve as a refresher or an easy on-ramp to recommend to students, colleagues, or partners who are newer to these practices.
Get Started
Courses are available now on Canvas! Visit the full course catalog to find the right starting point for your work.