Opening up mental health research

Abstract

Open science provides a compelling framework for accelerating global collaborations and enabling discoveries to understand and treat mental health disorders. Herein, we discuss the advantages and obstacles to adopting open science in mental health research, considering the particularities of sensitive and diverse data types, the potential of co-designing projects with research participants and the opportunity of amplifying open science by integration with mental health care. We present a practical example of how this landscape may be navigated to adopt open science across an entire research centre, in 5 steps, namely leadership committing to open science; finding models, resources and allies; identifying needs; defining open science principles; and putting principles into practice. We derive lessons learned that can be built upon by researchers and research organizations joining the open science movement in mental health.

Figure 1

The open science journey that carries research institutions through critical steps to promote open sharing of research outputs with local and global communities.

Figure 2

Main needs identified through the open science (OS) needs assessment. Data were collected in 2020 and 2021 through conversational interviews with researchers, research staff and students. We grouped the needs voiced by each category of stakeholders into 4 categories: (1) the funding and financial sustainability of open science projects; (2) access to information, infrastructure and specialized support services that enable open science practices; (3) synergy between ethics frameworks and open science goals that safeguards the confidentiality and security of research participant data; and (4) rewards for participating in open science activities.