Open research refers to increasing transparency and accessibility across the whole research process, not just for the outputs. It is an umbrella term for a set of practices that is sometimes used interchangeably with open science.

In this article, we define open research, outline the key principles behind it, and highlight some of the primary practices involved.

Defining open research

Open Access refers to ensuring that the final product of the research process, normally an article or review, is published openly. This means there are no barriers to accessing the research, such as an access fee. Open science extends this to the entire research process, ensuring openness the whole way.

Open research is sometimes used interchangeably with open science. It is the preferred term in the United Kingdom, as it is seen as more inclusive, including humanities research. Common use of open science, however, does not exclude humanities and other disciplines.

Open research, in short, applies the principle of openness to research processes and their outputs across all disciplines.

Steven U. Vidovic, Head of Open Research and Publication Practice at the University of Southampton, explains that open research arguably has no clear definition, instead describing it as

a collection of best practices that enable us to meet principles of openness, transparency, replicability and accountability.

He goes on to explain how,

If open research is done properly, the materials can be replicated, reused and built upon on an ongoing basis.

This is because, regardless of the definition used, open research is based on a set of core principles.

Core principles

Vidovic outlines his view on the core principles:

• Researchers should open their projects as early as possible.
• Open Access should be practiced.
• Always consider what the research output is and how it can be made more reproducible.
• Data must be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reproducible (FAIR) and “as open as possible and as closed as necessary”.
• Publish results that weren’t expected or those that might be considered negative or a failure.

These principles all revolve around accessibility, transparency, verification, and reproducibility.

They all aspire towards improving trust in science, encouraging collaboration, boosting the impact of research by increasing its visibility, and ensuring there are no barriers to access.

Key practices in open research

Open research covers a variety of practices centered around the principles outlined above.

Below is a list of the main practices that comprise open research.

Open Access publications

Open Access publications are freely available to anyone, anywhere. This is unlike subscription-based publishing, which was the norm in scientific publishing, whereby scholars pay to access research.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an Open Access license. This means:

• Everyone has free and unlimited access to the full text of all articles published in MDPI journals.
• Everyone is free to re-use the published material if proper accreditation/citation of the original publication is given.

Open Access publication ensures that research can be reused and built upon on an ongoing basis.

Visit the full list of MDPI journals for more information.

Preprints

A preprint is a version of a scholarly or scientific paper that is published before being submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

Publishing in this way is known as green Open Access. A preprint server is an online repository that hosts the publication of preprints, with common examples including arXiv, bioRxiv, and HAL.

Launched in 2016, Preprints.org is an MDPI initiative dedicated to making early versions of research outputs available. The service allows authors to share their work openly and rapidly and is free for all.

Preprints enable researchers to publish results that were not expected or those that might be considered negative or a failure. This means preprint servers are an excellent platform for sharing and discussing any results with the community, whether negative, failed, or unexpected.

Preregistration

Preregistration refers to submitting a research plan in advance of the study to a registry. This can include hypotheses, methods, or analyses of scientific studies.

Preregistration separates generating a hypothesis from testing it and lessens the likelihood of problematic research biases or practices before the study starts.

Studies that are pre-registered have greater transparency, reproducibility, and reduce the duplication of research. They enable researchers to open their projects as early possible, such as before they start collecting data.

Open data

Open data are data that can be freely used, reused, and redistributed by anyone, subject at most to the requirement to attribute and share-alike.

Generally, open data must meet three criteria:

1. Accessibility: The data must be freely and easily accessible, such as through an open data portal, formatted, and in its entirety.
2. Reuse and redistribution: Permission should be clearly stated regarding reuse and redistribution, typically through a license.
3. Availability: The data must be equally available to anyone.

Open peer review

According to a systematic review by Tony Ross-Hellauer, Leader of the Open and Reproducible Research Group, open peer review

has neither a standardized definition, nor an agreed schema of its features and implementations.

The paper outlines how, for some, it means the authors’ and reviewers’ identities are disclosed to each other, and others that the reviewer reports are published alongside the articles.

MDPI starts with a traditional peer review process (closed), after which the review reports (including the identities of the reviewers in some cases) are published alongside the authors’ responses and the article.

The option of open peer review is available across the whole MDPI portfolio. Authors can choose to publish the review reports and their responses with the published paper (open reports). Reviewers have the choice of listing their names with open identity.

In short, open peer review boosts transparency and can increase accountability for reviewers.

Open source software and hardware

Open source software refers to source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance for their own use.

Similarly, open source hardware involves ensuring the design specifications of a physical object are available for anyone to study, modify, create, and distribute.

These allow others to use and build upon software and hardware and allow for further validation of research results during the review process.

Citizen science

Generally, citizen science refers to scientific work, like collecting information, that is conducted by ordinary people without special qualifications to help the work of, and usually led by, scientists.

In 2016, the EU’s Open Science policy established what it calls the eight ‘ambitions’ of open science.

One of them is citizen science, where it argues that the general public should be able to make significant contributions and be recognised as valid science knowledge producers. As of 2025, the EU has over 300 projects on its citizen science hub.

Citizen science helps increase engagement with science and increase awareness.

Opening research

Those who practice open research are dedicated to ensuring accessibility, transparency, verification, and reproducibility in scientific research. This involves opening research across its whole life cycle, not just the output.

Click here for our article, All You Need to Know About Open Access, which covers a range of topics that can help boost your understanding and also keep you up to date.