[1][2] However, the term can also implicate research done in fields as varied as the social sciences, the humanities, mathematics, engineering and medicine.
Primary research data are posted which can be added to, or interpreted by, anyone who has the necessary expertise and who can therefore join the collaborative effort.
[23][24] In 2013, open research became more mainstream with web based platforms such as figshare continuing to grow in terms of users and publicly available outputs.
[25] The Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Committee met in 2014 to address one key element of the incentive systems: journals' procedures and policies for publication.
By developing shared standards for open practices across journals, the committee said it hopes to translate scientific norms and values into concrete actions and change the current incentive structures to drive researchers' behavior toward more openness.
[26] The committee said it sought to produce guidelines that (a) focus on the commonalities across disciplines, and that (b) define what aspects of the research process should be made available to the community to evaluate, critique, reuse, and extend.