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Study Design
This section highlights resources that help researchers embed open science principles directly into study design, ensuring transparent, reproducible, and ethically grounded research from the very start.
Ethics and Consent
Researchers must obtain clear, informed consent from participants before sharing any data openly. The Western (UWO) ethics guidelines provide example wording and templates for Letters of Information and Consent, helping researchers communicate data-sharing practices transparently and ethically.Data Management Plan
A data management plan (DMP) is a formal document that outlines how data will be collected, stored, organized, shared, and preserved during and after a research project. The Canadian Data Management Planning PGD portal offers tools and guidance to help researchers create robust DMPs that support transparency, reproducibility, and long-term data stewardship.Open Science Framework
The Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free, open‑source platform designed for managing research projects — enabling researchers to store, organize, and share data, materials, and workflows in a transparent and accessible way. It supports collaboration, version control, and open dissemination, making it easier to practice reproducible and open research.AsPredicted
AsPredicted is a free platform that enables researchers to pre‑register their study plans by answering a short set of questions, generating a time‑stamped, unchangeable pre‑registration document. It helps make research more transparent by clearly separating confirmatory analyses from exploratory ones before data collection begins — a simple but powerful step toward better reproducibility.Registered Reports
Registered Reports is a publishing format in which manuscripts are peer‑reviewed and accepted based on study design and methodology — before results are collected or known. This approach helps reduce publication bias and supports more rigorous, transparent research; visit the COS Registered Reports page to learn more and find journals that accept them.protocols.io
protocols.io is a collaborative online platform for sharing, organizing, and publishing detailed research methods and protocols — making it easier for researchers to reproduce, reuse, and build on each other’s work.