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Research Transparency & Reproducibility

Research transparency and reproducibility are fundamental components of scholarly integrity and scientific progress. Transparency allows readers, reviewers, and future researchers to understand how research was conducted, how conclusions were reached, and how findings may be evaluated, verified, challenged, or extended. Reproducibility strengthens confidence in published work and supports the cumulative advancement of knowledge across the operations research and management science community.

INFORMS recognizes that meaningful transparency may take different forms across methodologies, disciplines, and research settings. Quantitative empirical studies, simulations, computational experiments, qualitative fieldwork, theoretical modeling, laboratory experiments, archival analyses, and mixed-methods research each present different practical, legal, ethical, and disciplinary considerations. Accordingly, transparency expectations may vary by journal and by research context.

Authors are expected to engage in research and reporting practices that promote credibility, accountability, and appropriate transparency, while respecting legitimate constraints related to confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property, contractual obligations, participant protection, and researcher safety.

This page provides practical guidance regarding transparency and reproducibility. Ethical responsibilities relating to research integrity remain governed by INFORMS' Guidelines for Ethical Behavior in Publishing and applicable journal policies. Authors should also consult the editorial statement and any journal-specific transparency, disclosure, or reproducibility policies applicable to their submission.

General Principles

Accuracy & Integrity of the Scholarly Record

Authors are expected to present an accurate and complete account of the research performed. Data, analyses, computational procedures, experimental protocols, qualitative evidence, and findings should be represented honestly and transparently. Fabrication, falsification, selective misrepresentation, or knowingly inaccurate reporting constitute serious violations of publication ethics.

Research manuscripts should contain sufficient methodological detail, documentation, and referencing to permit informed evaluation of the work and, where feasible and appropriate, independent verification or replication.

Transparency Across Research Methodologies

INFORMS journals publish a wide range of research methodologies. Transparency expectations should therefore be interpreted in a manner appropriate to the type of research being conducted.

Examples may include:

  • sharing datasets, code, or computational workflows;
  • documenting simulation environments or parameter settings;
  • describing data collection and preprocessing procedures;
  • disclosing experimental instructions or study protocols;
  • documenting coding frameworks or qualitative analytical methods;
  • reporting inclusion, exclusion, and sampling decisions;
  • disclosing preregistration information or deviations from research plans;
  • providing supplemental appendices, data dictionaries, or replication materials; and
  • explaining limitations, uncertainties, and methodological tradeoffs.

Transparency is not limited to the public posting of data or code. In many cases, clear methodological explanation within the manuscript itself is equally important.

INFORMS recognizes that full public disclosure of all research materials is not always possible or appropriate. Legitimate constraints may include:

  • non-disclosure agreements (NDAs);
  • proprietary or licensed datasets;
  • personally identifiable or sensitive human-subject data;
  • institutional or governmental restrictions;
  • privacy, confidentiality, or security concerns;
  • legal or contractual limitations; or
  • risks to vulnerable populations, organizations, or researchers.

When such constraints exist, authors are expected to pursue alternative approaches that support transparency and verification to the greatest extent reasonably possible.

Depending on the circumstances, acceptable alternatives may include:

  • synthetic or transformed datasets;
  • masked or anonymized data;
• • • controlled-access repositories; • delayed or embargoed public release; • detailed data dictionaries and methodological documentation; • distributional statistics sufficient for replication; • instructions for accessing licensed or proprietary data sources; • third-party verification arrangements; or • pseudocode or methodological descriptions in place of restricted source code. The acceptability of alternative disclosure approaches remains subject to editorial review and journal-specific policy requirements. Data Transparency Authors are expected to maintain appropriate records of the data underlying their research and to retain such materials for a reasonable period following publication, sufficient to support editorial review, verification, or replication efforts where appropriate. Authors should: • accurately describe the provenance and sources of data used in the research; • ensure they possess the legal and ethical right to use and publish the data; • disclose material preprocessing, cleaning, transformation, matching, or exclusion procedures; • explain missing data handling and sampling decisions where relevant; and • disclose material limitations or restrictions affecting data access or reuse. When data are obtained from third-party, public, licensed, or proprietary sources, authors remain responsible for complying with applicable terms of use, contractual restrictions, privacy protections, and legal requirements. Several INFORMS journals maintain additional data disclosure, archiving, or reproducibility requirements. Authors should consult journal-specific policies prior to submission. Code & Computational Reproducibility For research relying on computational analysis, simulation, optimization, machine learning, statistical estimation, or numerical experimentation, authors may be expected to provide code, scripts, computational instructions, configuration information, or related materials sufficient to support verification or replication of reported results. Shared computational materials should: • reasonably correspond to the analyses reported in the manuscript; • contain sufficient documentation or annotation to permit understanding by knowledgeable researchers in the field; • identify relevant software environments, dependencies, packages, or licensed components where necessary; and • include instructions describing the progression from raw inputs to reported results where feasible. Authors are not necessarily expected to provide production-quality software or extensive user support unless explicitly required by the journal. Research Workflow, Disclosure, & Provenance Transparency may also include disclosure regarding the research process itself. Depending on the journal and methodology, authors may be asked to disclose: • preregistration information; • sequencing of studies or analyses; • deviations from original research plans; • related or overlapping studies; • contributor roles in data collection, coding, analysis, or interpretation; • provenance of research outputs and analytical workflows; and • use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in the research or manuscript preparation process. Such disclosures help readers and reviewers understand how findings were developed and evaluated and support confidence in the integrity of the scholarly record. Qualitative & Mixed-Methods Research Transparency expectations apply to qualitative and mixed-methods research as well as quantitative and computational studies. Authors of qualitative research are encouraged to provide sufficient detail regarding: • study settings and context, • participant selection and recruitment, • data collection methods, • coding and analytical frameworks, • interpretation processes, • evidentiary support for stated findings, and • limitations and constraints affecting disclosure. INFORMS recognizes that confidentiality, anonymity, participant protection, and researcher safety considerations may place important limits on data sharing in qualitative research contexts. Repositories, Supplemental Materials, & Archiving Some INFORMS journals require or encourage the use of: • institutional repositories, • discipline-specific repositories, • journal-managed repositories, • supplemental online appendices, • third-party archiving platforms, or • reproducibility workflows or replication packages. Authors should consult journal-specific instructions regarding accepted repositories, formatting requirements, embargo options, supplemental materials, and archival expectations. Journal-Specific Policies Several INFORMS journals maintain additional policies or workflows relating to transparency, reproducibility, data disclosure, computational verification, or replication materials. Examples include: • code and data disclosure policies, • reproducibility and replication package requirements, • data provenance certifications, • supplemental repository workflows, • transparency guidance for qualitative research, • computational reproducibility standards, and • preregistration guidance. Authors are responsible for reviewing and complying with all journal-specific requirements applicable to their submission. Related Guidance Additional guidance may be found in: • INFORMS Guidelines for Ethical Behavior in Publishing, • Authorship & Contributor Roles, • Originality, Attribution, & Copyright, • Post-Publication Corrections & Critiques, • journal-specific peer review policy and practices, and • journal-specific editorial statements and author instructions.

Authors publishing under standard publication agreements retain important rights to share and post their author accepted manuscripts (AAMs) without embargo in accordance with the INFORMS Author Posting & Sharing policy.

INFORMS Open Option (“Gold” Open Access)

Authors may elect to publish their accepted article open access through INFORMS Open Option. Articles published through IOO are made freely available online through INFORMS PubsOnline immediately upon publication and remain openly accessible in perpetuity.

Publication fees for INFORMS Open Option vary by journal. See each journal's submission guidelines for current pricing information.

Selection of IOO has no impact on editorial consideration, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication eligibility.

Authors may indicate their intent to participate in IOO during manuscript submission or revision, but the final decision to participate may be made any time prior to publication.

Authors will not be invoiced for the IOO publication fee until after acceptance of the manuscript. Payment of the IOO fee must be completed before the article can be published open access.

Participation in INFORMS Open Option does not modify or supersede INFORMS publication ethics; authorship; originality, attribution, and copyright (including plagiarism and related-work disclosure); research transparency; permissions; or post-publication correction policies.

Authors remain responsible for:

  • properly citing and disclosing related and previously published works,
  • complying with policies regarding concurrent or redundant publication,
  • obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted third-party material where required, and
  • clearly identifying any material for which copyright is held by another party.

Open access publication through IOO applies only to material for which the authors hold the necessary publication and licensing rights.

Third-party materials included in an open access article may remain subject to separate copyright restrictions, permissions, or reuse limitations. Such materials are not covered by the article's Creative Commons license unless expressly stated otherwise.

Authors electing to publish through INFORMS Open Option complete a publication license in lieu of a traditional copyright transfer agreement.

Under the publication license:

  • authors retain copyright in their work;
  • authors grant INFORMS a nonexclusive, irrevocable license to publish and distribute the article; and
  • the article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons license selected by the author.

INFORMS distributes open access articles through INFORMS PubsOnline, print and electronic publication formats, abstracting and indexing services, and authorized document-delivery and database services.

The selected Creative Commons license is displayed with the published article and embedded within the article metadata.

Creative Commons Licenses

INFORMS Open Option allows authors to select from the following Creative Commons licenses governing reuse of their published work. Authors are advised to confirm any license requirements associated with their research funding before selecting a license.

  • CC-BY (Attribution): Allows redistribution, adaptation, and commercial reuse as long as attribution is given to the author.
  • CC-BY-SA (Attribution-Share Alike): Allows redistribution, adaptation, and commercial reuse as long as attribution is given to the author and derivative works are licensed under identical terms.
  • CC-BY-NC (Attribution-Noncommercial): Allows redistribution and adaptation, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only.
  • CC-BY-NC-SA (Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike): Allows noncommercial redistribution and adaptation with attribution, provided derivative works are licensed under identical terms.
  • CC-BY-ND (Attribution-No Derivatives): Allows redistribution, including commercial redistribution, provided the work is unchanged and attribution is given.
  • CC-BY-NC-ND (Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives): Allows noncommercial redistribution only, provided the work is unchanged and attribution is given.

For complete license terms and additional information, please visit the Creative Commons website: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.

Publication Licenses

Authors publishing through INFORMS Open Option complete an Open Access Publication License instead of a copyright transfer agreement. The applicable publication licenses for INFORMS journals and book series may be downloaded below. Publication licenses may be completed and signed electronically.

Journals

Book Series

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I decide whether to participate in INFORMS Open Option?

Authors may indicate their intent to participate in IOO during manuscript submission and revision, but the decision to participate may be changed any time prior to publication. Selection of IOO has no effect on editorial consideration, peer review, or publication decisions.

Can the IOO fee be shared among coauthors or paid by an institution or funder?

Yes. INFORMS may invoice coauthors, institutions, employers, or funding organizations directly for all or part of the IOO publication fee. All invoice balances associated with an accepted article must be paid before the article can be published open access.

My article has already been published. Can it still be converted to open access?

Yes. Previously published articles may be converted retroactively to open access through INFORMS Open Option.

Because previously published articles were originally published under standard copyright transfer agreements and historical production processes vary, retroactive open access conversion may not alter the original published article files. However, INFORMS will update article metadata and access status to reflect the article's open access license and copyright status.

Please contact [email protected] for additional information regarding retroactive IOO conversion.

My funder requires a specific Creative Commons license. Can I comply through IOO?

Yes. INFORMS Open Option allows authors to select from among the available Creative Commons licenses, including CC-BY where required by funders or institutions.

Authors are responsible for confirming and complying with any applicable funder or institutional open access requirements.

I cannot participate in IOO but my funder requires public access or repository deposit. What are my options?

Authors publishing under standard publication agreements may post and share their author accepted manuscript (AAM) with immediate availability, without embargo in accordance with the INFORMS Author Posting & Sharing policy.

Some funders may require repository-deposited manuscripts to be distributed under specific Creative Commons licenses or public access conditions (for example, UKRI, Wellcome, and NIHR require the AAM to be made available under a CC-BY license no later than the date of first online publication). Authors are responsible for ensuring compliance with any applicable funder requirements.

Where can I find information regarding manuscript posting, repository deposit & reuse rights?

Please see the INFORMS Author Posting & Sharing policy for additional information regarding:

Contact

For additional information regarding INFORMS Open Option, publication licenses, or open access publication, please contact [email protected].

Updated July 2, 2026.

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