Using OSF to teach Open Science
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Some instructors incorporate the OSF use into their curriculum to train students to do open science practices. Removal of OSF features for project management, private storage, and public sharing of data, materials, and code may require changes to lesson plans.
Instructors can still use the OSF to train open science practices but will likely need to incorporate additional tools. The OSF supports lifecycle open science – making visible and linking all of the components of the research, from plans and preregistrations, to data, materials, and code, to the reports and papers reporting the outcomes.
The table suggests how the OSF can be used in open science instruction for each stage of the research cycle, and there are links at the end for alternative solutions for uses no longer supported by the OSF.
| Research Stage | Solution |
| Planning | Use OSF Registries workflow to develop, document, and preregister research designs and analysis plans. Several registration templates are available for different types of research. |
| Conducting |
Use a repository to store and share research materials (help me choose). Add a link to those materials on the OSF registration. |
| Analysis |
Use a repository to store and share research data and analytic code. Add a link to the data and code on the OSF registration. |
| Reporting |
Use OSF Preprints workflow to post a paper reporting the research outcomes. Add a link to the OSF registration to the preprint, and add a link to the preprint on the OSF registration. |
Upon completing these stages, students will have completed a full lifecycle open science project with all of the contents linked and discoverable from the initial plan through the final report.
The OSF no longer supports project management of research and will not be a repository for new data, materials, and code, but several alternatives are available. For example, instructors may incorporate electronic lab notebooks or project management software.
This Article Is Licensed Under CCO For Maximum Reuse.