This policy directive moves the thirty years of advocacy for open access within reach of the goal line for a complete transformation to open by default. Moreover, by also mandating sharing the data underlying reported results, this directive is a major leap forward for the open data movement.

Brian Nosek
Executive Director
Center for Open Science

2022 was a pivotal year for open science. Following the strong path that the United Nations set in 2021 with their clear recommendations for open science, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) built upon years of progress and asserted that open science is the new expectation. Federally funded research outputs and data must be made openly available. Agencies that fund or conduct research are now working to implement policies that adhere to this framework, and the Transparency and Openness Promotion Guidelines (TOP) provide specific, targeted recommendations for how funding agencies can adhere to the letter and spirit of these new orders.

Not only is open access to research findings and data on the horizon, but opportunities to improve rigor and reduce selective reporting and publication bias are now on the radar of government agencies. The Government Accountability Office made a strong case that study preregistration will add clarity and credibility to empirical research funded by public resources. OSF Registries contain the largest database of pre-clinical research studies and it is ready to support even more researchers as the community moves toward a more open and reproducible future.

Measuring Compliance with New Expectations using TOP Factor

Now that open science is the expectation for most research, TOP Factor provides a clear indication of journals that comply with this reality. Journals must have a Level 2 (research data transparency required when ethically possible) or Level 3 (open data is verified) in order to comply with the OSTP requirements. We look forward to supporting major publishers as they continue to update their policies in accordance with this movement.