Revitalized TOP Guidelines Advisory Board Seeks New Members

As part of efforts to recognize and appreciate volunteer contributors, the Center for Open Science (COS) would like to recognize a long-standing group: the TOP Guidelines Advisory Board. Founded in 2015 following the creation of the TOP Guidelines, this group has been recently reinvigorated with a new governance structure and new members. Furthermore, the group now has a chair and vice chair drawn from among its members. New board members are elected by the existing board annually and serve three-year terms. The call for new members to join from 2025 is now open. Details of the application process are outlined below, and the Board’s full bylaws can be found here.

The Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines are a policy and practice framework that supports the verification of published claims by outlining the behaviors researchers can perform to make the entire lifecycle of their research transparent and open. The purposes of promoting transparency and openness of the entire lifecycle of research are to 1) increase accessibility of the planning, process, outputs, and outcomes of research; 2) promote rigor and reproducibility; 3) enable assessment of credibility; and 4) facilitate self-correction. 

The TOP framework can be applied by specific organizations and relevant actors: by journals when providing instructions to authors, by funders when articulating requirements for grantees, by academic institutions or departments when setting criteria for professional advancement, and by consumers of scientific knowledge such as evidence clearinghouses when articulating the expectations of included research. 

For 2024, the board is led by Chair Sean Grant (University of Oregon) and Vice-Chair Suzanne Stewart (University of Chester). The current board consists of 18 members from a variety of academic backgrounds, representing diverse organizations and many different countries. The full roster of members is below. Current activities of the board are focused on evaluating proposed revisions to TOP. The board addresses questions of possible addition of new standards, revision or removal of old standards, and alterations to the framework to improve stakeholder implementation of standards.  

COS thanks the following board members whose terms of service ended in 2023: Virginia Barbour, Stuart Buck, Todd Carpenter, Brooks Hanson, Maryann Martone, Syril Pettit, Victoria Stodden, and Paula Williamson.

Applications for 2025 board positions have now opened. If you would like to be considered, please self-nominate. You may also nominate colleagues at the same link. Nominations are accepted on a rolling basis, with nominations forwarded to the Advisory Board for consideration each year in June, so apply by May 31, 2024 for best consideration. Please write Katie Corker (Community Engagement Advisor) at k.corker@gmail.com or David Mellor (Director of Policy) at david@cos.io with questions.

Current TOP Guidelines Advisory Board Members