The Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free, open source tool created and hosted by the Center for Open Science. Designed to meet immediate needs like file sharing, collaboration, and project management, the OSF contains additional features that become useful for the later phases in research such as preparing for publication or grant renewal. Flexible private/public settings allow researchers to share their work selectively and even receive Digital Object Identifiers, for persistent citation, without needing to leave the platform. By integrating with tools that researchers already use (e.g. Google Drive, Box, GitHub, and Zotero), the OSF does not require users to learn a whole new system or to change successful workflows. Through the “registration” feature, the OSF can help decrease some of the compliance burden by creating a timestamped version of the workspace for active research, which then serves as a preservation and access mechanism for projects.
