Brain imaging research has benefited from Open Science practices in data sharing and tools development for standardizing the complex processing steps of neuroimaging data. These collective efforts from the Open Science community have enhanced the reliability, generalizability, and ultimately clinical translatability of brain-behavior findings. However, with limited recognition and supporting resources, many teams that govern the open datasets and that maintain the open tools have struggled to provide sustainable services to the broad research community. In addition, the open science community, especially early-career researchers, has started to raise concerns regarding the incentives in the Open Science practices considering the incommensurate payoff in career development for the invested time and effort.

This issue affects the sustainability of our current Open Science community as well as the Open Science initiatives in non-Western countries. On one hand, the current Open Science community, which mainly includes early-career scientists based in North American and European countries, has struggled to maintain Open Science services while advancing their careers. On the other hand, the outreach of the Open Science initiatives in other regions, especially low-income or non-Western countries, is challenged as the incentives were not clear in different cultures and with limited resources. Questions such as “Why Open Science?” “How do I keep practicing Open Science in a way that helps my career?” “How to balance time, efforts, and resources going into a research project/paper versus into Open Science practices?” have resurfaced.

Our session will provide the audience with general hesitation in continuing to contribute to Open Science and the impact of Open Science on one’s career development, including both the benefits and challenges, and drive the discussion of those topics going forward.

OSR 2025 | Table Talk 1: Incentives for Open Science