👋 Welcome to the Center for Open Science GitHub

We’re so glad you’re here!

The Center for Open Science (COS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing openness, integrity, and reproducibility of research. Our flagship platform, the Open Science Framework (OSF), supports researchers across the full research lifecycle—from planning and preregistering studies, to sharing data, code, and preprints.

This GitHub space is home to the open-source development behind OSF and related tools. We welcome contributions and collaboration from researchers, developers, community builders, and anyone interested in open science.

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🌱 New Here? Start with These:

• What is COS and OSF?
  Learn more about our mission and the tools we build on our COS website and OSF

🧪 What is the Open Science Framework (OSF)?

The Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free, open-source platform designed to help researchers plan, collaborate on, and share their research. It promotes open science by supporting transparency, reproducibility, and collaboration.

Key features of OSF include:

• Project management & collaboration (OSF Projects) – Organize research projects and manage contributors.
• Archive of Registrations and Preregistrations (OSF registries) – Create a timestamped read-only version of a research protocol to promote transparency in the research process.
• Preprint hosting (OSF Preprints) – Share preprints to get early feedback.
• Open access & sharing – Control who sees your data, code, and protocols.
• Data storage & archiving – Store and preserve research outputs.
• Integrations – Connect tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, Mendeley, and so many more!.

👉 Glossary of OSF Terms

🧰 What Are the OSF GitHub Repositories?

OSF is powered by several open-source repositories maintained here on GitHub. These services work together to deliver OSF's platform functionality:

• osf.io[link coming soon] – The core backend platform (Python/Django)
• osf-angular – The modern Angular-based frontend
• waterbutler – Unified file storage and transfer API
• gravy-valet – Add-on integrations and service coordination

👉 Learn how these tools work together

🤝 How to Contribute

We welcome contributions from all backgrounds! Whether you’re a developer, designer, researcher, or open science enthusiast, there’s a place for you here.

Start with our Contributing Guide to learn how to:

• Set up a local dev environment
• Submit issues and feature requests
• Make your first pull request

Please read our Governance Document to understand how decisions are made and how community members can get involved.

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💬 Join the Community

We’re building an open and welcoming community around this project — and we’re excited to invite broader participation soon!

🚀 Please note:
Right now, our community space is private while we kickstart a few initial projects and set the foundation for future collaboration. We expect to open the community to the public once the first projects are up and running.

If you're interested in staying in the loop or receiving an early invite when we launch, feel free to reach out to us! You can fill out our Community intake form or You can email our Technical community manager directly if you are interested in participating (daniel@cos.io).

If you are interested in joining our beta tester community, consider filling out our OSF Technology Advocate Form

Thanks for your interest and excitement — we’re just getting started!

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🚧 Projects & Roadmap

• Explore Active Repositories:
  Our current open-source projects can be found under the Projects tab.

• OSF Product Roadmap:
  Curious about what’s next for OSF? Check out the COS Product Roadmap.

• Understanding GitHub Labels:
  Tasks are labeled by type, priority, and skill level. Learn what each tag means in our Tag Guide.

All skill levels and backgrounds are welcome—whether you're a developer, researcher, librarian, or just open science curious.

🤝 Get Involved

There are lots of ways to contribute:

• Share ideas or raise issues in our GitHub repos
• Help improve documentation
• Join discussions on Discord
• Participate in community events
• Advocate for open science in your own networks

Thanks for stopping by! Whether you're here to explore, contribute, or learn, welcome to the COS community. Every voice matters. Let’s build the future of open science together. 🌍

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🔗 Back to COS website | 📄 View OSF | 📬 Contact us at contact@cos.io