Open Research

Open Access and Open Science

NCMR is a diamond open-access - open-science journal (also known as platinum OA-OS). Open access (OA) refers to the practice that scholarly research outputs are made freely accessible and discoverable through internet search. NCMR is a diamond / platinum OA, which means that NCMR publishes high quality articles without charging either authors or readers. Articles are published with no embargo period, can be read without creating a user account or registering with the website, and we only publish digitally, not in print. Our editors and reviewers serve the journal and the larger research and practice community without pay. Our editorial assistant receives only a small compensation. We are grateful to the Kellogg Dispute Resolution Research Center at Northwestern University, Carnegie Mellon University Library Publishing Service, and IACM members for their sponsorship.

Open Science (OS) refers to the practice of making research-related information such as study materials, datasets, lab notes, statistical code, and open source software available to other researchers and readers. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defines Open Science as "unhindered access to scientific articles, access to data from public research, and collaborative research enabled by ICT tools and incentives." It offers an effective tool to resolve questionable research practices (QRPs):

Examples of QRPs include HARKING (i.e., hypothesizing after results are known), proposing unnecessarily complex causal models, selective reporting of hypotheses, as well as inappropriately reporting degrees of freedom, fit indices, p-values, and insufficient transparency in the general reporting of research results. (Aguinis et al., 2020, p. 27)

OS practices such as sharing study materials and data are consistent with NCMR’s commitment to openness and transparency. Such sharing of materials and data enables researchers to reproduce studies, facilitating the validation of research. They allow researchers to leverage study findings to foster continued discovery and theory building. Materials and data sharing also allow for easy access to knowledge and, through proper citation of datasets, accumulation of data.

Consistent with recommendations on best practices in OS, NCMR encourages authors to share their study materials, data, and statistical code when feasible in a public repository, such as the Open Science Framework (OSF) or another similar platform in which a persistent URL and doi link can be generated. Authors are encouraged to include a data accessibility statement within their article where appropriate and follow appropriate data citation principles.

Note that the above general policies are subject to ethical considerations, in particular as they relate to the protection of human subjects or other relevant privacy or legal concerns. Contact the editorial office if there are questions about these data sharing practices or about how to adopt and report open science practices in your work.