TOP 2025: An Update to the Transparency and Openness Promotion Guidelines
This talk was presented at the University of Manchester Open Research Conference, 9-10 June 2025.
Published in 2015, the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP 2015) Guidelines established a framework for publication standards that enhance research transparency and reproducibility. In the intervening years, thousands of journals and other stakeholders have adopted TOP 2015 across diverse disciplines, research paradigms, and study designs. Recognising the evolving research landscape, the TOP Advisory Board recently announced the guidelines’ first major update, TOP 2025, which integrates insights from stakeholder feedback and the meta-scientific literature. TOP 2025 includes a conceptual framework that clarifies the guidelines’ primary objective-- improving the verifiability of empirical research claims--and that steers their reorganisation and application for a range of stakeholders. TOP 2025 further reflects three key changes. First, it classifies standards into three distinct types: research practices, verification practices, and verification studies. Second, it standardises implementation levels for research practices across a consistent three-tier system: disclosure (Level 1), share and cite (Level 2), and certify (Level 3). Third, it refines registration and reporting standards based on community input. This presentation provides an overview of TOP 2025, illustrating its utility for journals, researchers, and institutions. By adopting these updated guidelines, stakeholders can enhance the verifiability of empirical claims, promoting a more open and transparent research environment.
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