Open Science Framework

The Center for Open Science (COS) is one of the most influential organizations driving the global movement toward open, transparent, and reproducible research. Through a combination of infrastructure, policy advocacy, community programs, and cultural change initiatives, COS aims to address long-standing issues in scientific reproducibility, data availability, and research integrity.

1. Mission and Core Philosophy

COS is built on a foundational belief:
Scientific progress accelerates when research is open—open data, open methods, open workflows, and open access.

Its mission focuses on:

• Improving the openness and integrity of research
• Supporting reproducible workflows
• Increasing trust in scientific knowledge
• Creating accessible infrastructure for the entire research lifecycle

By targeting both cultural norms and practical tools, COS is shaping how scientists produce, share, and evaluate knowledge worldwide.

2. Flagship Infrastructure: The Open Science Framework (OSF)

The Open Science Framework (OSF) is COS’s flagship platform and one of the most comprehensive open-science tools available today. OSF supports the full research lifecycle:

Key OSF capabilities include:

• Project management: versioning, file storage, team permissions
• Preprints: OSF hosts preprint repositories for dozens of communities (PsyArXiv, SocArXiv, engrXiv, etc.)
• Preregistration: researchers can publicly register hypotheses and study plans
• Open data sharing: easy access to datasets, code, protocols, and materials
• Third-party integrations: GitHub, Dropbox, Google Drive, Zotero, Figshare, Dataverse, and more

OSF has become a critical hub for transparent research, particularly in psychology, social sciences, education, and emergent scientific fields adopting open-skeptic norms.

3. Major COS Initiatives

a. Registered Reports

COS champions Registered Reports, a publication model where study plans undergo peer review before data collection—reducing publication bias, p-hacking, and questionable research practices.

b. Reproducibility Projects

COS has led large-scale reproducibility studies, including:

• Reproducibility Project: Psychology
• Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology

These landmark initiatives revealed systemic issues in research reliability, pushing journals and funders toward stronger reproducibility standards.

c. Advocacy and Training

COS provides:

• Open-science training programs
• Educational materials
• Workshops and conferences
• Policy frameworks for universities and journals

Their advocacy has significantly shaped research norms and institutional policies.

4. Strengths

1. Comprehensive, free infrastructure

OSF offers robust tools without paywalls, making it accessible to:

• Students
• Small labs
• Global South researchers
• Independent scholars

2. Strong policy influence

COS’s reproducibility initiatives have sparked reforms across journals and funding bodies.

3. Community-driven and interdisciplinary

OSF hosts preprint servers and communities across dozens of disciplines.

4. Transparent governance

COS is a nonprofit focused on public good rather than commercial profit.

5. Limitations

• OSF’s interface, while powerful, can feel complex or unintuitive for new users
• Competes with simpler tools (Google Drive, GitHub, Overleaf) which researchers already use
• Preprint discovery across OSF communities is somewhat fragmented
• Adoption varies across disciplines—strong in psychology and social sciences, moderate in STEM, low in biomedical fields constrained by data privacy

6. Role in the Research Ecosystem

COS plays a pivotal role as:

• Infrastructure provider (OSF, preregistrations, preprints)
• Cultural reformer (open-science advocacy, reproducibility norms)
• Policy influencer (collaborations with funders, journals, institutions)
• Training hub (workshops, curricula, best practices)

Few organizations integrate all these dimensions as cohesively.