# The struggle to make transparency mainstream: initial evidence for a slow uptake of open science practices in PhD theses

## TL;DR

This study examines how slowly open science practices are being adopted by PhD students in psychology, despite efforts to promote transparency in research.

## Contribution

The paper provides initial evidence on the slow uptake of open science practices among early career researchers in German-speaking psychology departments.

## Key findings

- There was a modest increase in open science practices over time but no significant difference between departments with varying OS implementation.
- PhD students' attitudes and perceived control had a stronger influence on OS use than perceived norms.
- The study highlights the need for universities to intensify efforts to implement open science practices.

## Abstract

Open science (OS) practices—such as data sharing, study preregistration and transparent methods—aim to increase transparency of research. While OS practices are gaining popularity—particularly through bottom-up initiatives—their adoption rate among early career researchers remains unclear. To investigate this, we analysed dissertations from two German-speaking psychology departments with varying degree of OS implementation from 2018 to 2022. We manually coded n = 379 studies from k = 91 theses and surveyed former PhD students about perceived norms, attitudes and perceived behavioural control regarding OS practices. Our findings revealed a modest increase of OS over time but no significant difference between departments with more or less-established OS practices. Additionally, attitudes and perceived control appeared to affect OS use more than perceived norms of PhD students’ surroundings. As more than a decade has passed since the replication crisis emerged, this highlights a need to intensify measures at universities to implement OS.