Open Hydrology Principles and Practical Guide to Promote Diverse and Inclusive Research 

Abstract

<p>Open science is high on the agenda of academic, national, and intergovernmental organizations because of its commitment to transparency and reproducibility. Transparent and inclusive research practices facilitate reproducibility and collaboration while improving research accessibility, attribution, governance, and community-driven support for marginalized researchers and stakeholders not usually included or credited in research. Hydrology is an inter- and multi-disciplinary science that integrates qualitative and quantitative data (field, lab, models, etc.) to address human life and natural ecosystems issues. Research progress in hydrology depends on accessibility of research output, like data, code, and publications. This necessitates openness – documentation and sharing of one’s research process, including definitions, motivations, justifications and assumptions, practices, and methods.</p><p>One fundamental step toward a more inclusive and diverse research community is to create equal access to knowledge for all hydrologists across the globe. Open science can facilitate equitable advancement and innovation to solve challenges and work towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To address barriers to starting or advancing one’s open science practices, we introduced the <em>Open Hydrology Principles</em> (Hall et al., 2021, HESS) and practical guide for hydrology researchers. We discuss the benefits and share tips to engaging in open science by focusing on four principal themes related to (1) <em>Open Research Process and Approach</em>, (2) <em>Open Data</em>, (3) <em>Open Software Development and Use</em>, and (4) <em>Open Publishing</em>. We hope that this guide enriched with practical advice (tips, tools, and resources) will help strengthen inclusivity and diversity in hydrology and globally inspire more hydrologists to pursue open science. We encourage everyone to contribute to the community-supported repository of open hydrology resources at https://open-hydrology.github.io/.   </p>