title: Badges to Acknowledge Open Practices: A Simple, Low-Cost, Effective Method for Increasing Transparency.
abstract: Beginning January 2014, Psychological Science gave authors the opportunity to signal open data and materials if they qualified for badges that accompanied published articles. Before badges, less than 3% of Psychological Science articles reported open data. After badges, 23% reported open data, with an accelerating trend; 39% reported open data in the first half of 2015, an increase of more than an order of magnitude from baseline. There was no change over time in the low rates of data sharing among comparison journals. Moreover, reporting openness does not guarantee openness. When badges were earned, reportedly available data were more likely to be actually available, correct, usable, and complete than when badges were not earned. Open materials also increased to a weaker degree, and there was more variability among comparison journals. Badges are simple, effective signals to promote open practices and improve preservation of data and materials by using independent repositories.
authors.affiliation: Center for Open Science, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mallory C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kidwell
authors.affiliation: University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Ljiljana B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Lazarević
authors.affiliation: University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baranski
authors.affiliation: University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tom E
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9485-4952
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Hardwicke
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piechowski
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Lina-Sophia
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Falkenberg
authors.affiliation: Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, United States of America.
authors.forename: Curtis
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5278-8192
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kennett
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4155-0784
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Slowik
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sonnleitner
authors.affiliation: Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, United States of America.
authors.forename: Chelsey
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3380-895X
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hess-Holden
authors.affiliation: Center for Open Science, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Timothy M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4959-5143
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Errington
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Susann
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fiedler
authors.affiliation: Center for Open Science, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.|University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brian A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Nosek
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D033181:Information Dissemination; D020407:Internet; D011584:Psychology; D011643:Publishing / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D012693:Serial Publications / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*