The Open Science Framework (OSF) has been a cornerstone of the scientific community, enabling researchers to share and preserve their data, materials, and analysis code. However, the platform is facing a significant shift as it will no longer accept new file uploads starting November 2026. This decision, according to Brian Nosek, is due to the platform's misuse by spammers and researchers, leading to unsustainable maintenance costs. The OSF's demise raises an important question: what alternative platform can effectively replace it? The answer lies in ResearchBox, a specialized platform designed to address the very issues that plagued the OSF.
ResearchBox, part of the Credibility Lab's open-research ecosystem, is fully integrated with AsPredicted and AsCollected, making it a seamless continuation of the OSF's mission. It was launched in October 2020 and has since hosted files from 8,970 researchers, with the number of stored files roughly doubling each year. The platform's design is intentionally simple and specialized, focusing solely on making it easy for researchers to share data, code, materials, and pre-registrations.
One of the key strengths of ResearchBox is its user-friendly interface. All boxes are presented in a standardized Bingo Table format, making it easy to navigate and understand the content. Files can be previewed nearly instantaneously, including very large datasets, and every dataset has a codebook. Downloading files is a breeze, with the option to check specific files or download all at once. The platform also allows for searching the code and data of publicly available boxes, enhancing the discoverability of research content.
To combat the issues of misuse and spam, ResearchBox employs several safeguards. It requires users to create accounts with verified email addresses, making it difficult for anonymous users and non-researchers to use the platform. The user interface explicitly conveys that it should only be used for sharing research files for publishable research. Boxes are algorithmically screened for misuse, and content violating Terms of Use is eliminated. Files are not allowed to stay private forever, with authors given renewable 3-year clocks to make them public.
In terms of performance, ResearchBox excels. It offers fast file previews and downloads, searchable content, standardized landing pages, and easy usability. Public boxes are automatically backed up to Zenodo, with a unique DOI, and the Internet Archive, ensuring file permanence. This level of commitment to file preservation is a significant advantage over the OSF, which faced challenges in maintaining the long-term availability of its files.
In conclusion, the OSF's decision to stop accepting new file uploads is a necessary step to address misuse and maintain sustainability. ResearchBox, with its specialized design, user-friendly features, and robust safeguards, is a compelling alternative. As researchers seek a new home for their open-research files, ResearchBox offers a promising solution, ensuring that the values of open science are preserved and shared effectively.
