In a recent article for Nature, Andy Tay discusses how sharing laboratory materials and information benefits researchers. Tay writes that the open science movement is gaining momentum, with many researchers embracing open-access publishing in particular. However, the open sharing of lab materials, reagents, and protocols has not been adopted as readily. Tay discusses how open-science organizations can provide the infrastructure needed to share research plans, protocols, materials, data, and findings, and offers tips to researchers looking to get their labs involved in materials sharing. Tay concludes by noting some of the common concerns about open science and discusses the circumstances in which it may not be beneficial to share data, research, and materials publicly.
