Changing Journal Practices to Encourage Better Science

A frequent complaint is that journal policies do not encourage open science – in fact, some practices such as limitations on length of articles and figures may actually work against transparency and openness. Numerous journal editors, researchers, and representatives of funding agencies convened to draft a set of Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Committee Guidelines (published in June 26, 2015 Science), which have already been endorsed by more than 500 journals across a range of disciplines. The guidelines address policies for sharing data, materials, code, and analysis; for valuing preregistration and replication; and for citation standards. They will aid journals and societies in choosing sensible pathways to promote transparency according to their own field’s values and competencies.