Exploring open science in applied ethology: practice and attitudes among researchers.

objectiveIn light of the replication crisis, transparency is critical for impactful research. This is particularly relevant for animal-based research fields, like Applied Ethology, where ethical obligations demand both scientific integrity and responsible use of animals. While Open Science practices are well-established in some fields, especially psychology, they remain limited in the field of Applied Ethology, for which there is also a lack of standardised guidelines and training. To assess the prevalence of different Open Science practices in this field, we surveyed attendees of the 2021 virtual International Society for Applied Ethology Congress.

resultsOf 372 invitations, 112 surveys were completed (30.1%). Preprints (25%) and preregistration (9%) were uncommon, with lack of training cited as the main barrier. Of those who had published a preprint/preregistered study protocol, preprints were mainly used for result dissemination (81%) and preregistration for quality control and integrity (56%). 27% reported always sharing their data, 57% shared sometimes, and 15% never shared their data. Sharing data as supplementary material was most common, only a minority used data repositories and only 21% of respondents had heard of the FAIR principles.