Open research

In the spirit of free and open source software (F/OSS), open research is conducted in much the same way. Its "source code" is made public, that is, its sources and methodologies are open to scrutiny and the results are publicly provided, often posted on the internet free to download. Issues of copyright are dealt with by either standard copyright or by releasing the content under licenses such as the Creative Commons Licence or one of the GNU General Public Licences.

Examples

• Blue Oxen Pattern Repository - a repository for collecting, discussing, and refactoring patterns for High Performance Collaboration.
• The UsefulChem project is an initiative to carry out open source science based on current problems likely to have chemical solutions in the immediate future. This includes open discussion of strategies and objectives. Current projects include the synthesis and testing of anti-malaria and anti-HIV compounds and the treatment of arsenic contaminated well water. A briefing of the projects and ways of contributing are maintained on the UsefulChem Wiki, which serves to organize the most up to date and relevant information in the UsefulChem Blog.
• MIT's open source research community is another example of open research.
• The GNU Free Documentation License or GFDL is the licence used for the open-research content associated with Meta Collab.