Open Code has become very popular in many areas, such as software development, research and data analysis. It promotes transparency, innovation, knowledge sharing and collaboration, and helps ensure that researchers receive recognition for their work.

Open Code makes source code written for scientific work, such as data analyses, statistical models and simulations, accessible to others. If it is provided with a suitable Open Source licence, it can be reused and may also be called Open Source code or Open Source software. Code published under an Open Source licence allows others to access, view, use, modify and redistribute it for various purposes without restrictions. The topic of Open Code therefore overlaps considerably with the Open Source principle.

However, the licence is not the only factor that makes code open. Open programming languages and the associated software also matter, as do quality assurance of the code and a suitable publication strategy that also allows the code to be cited. Furthermore, Open Code is not automatically easy to reuse. To achieve this, it should also follow the FAIR principles, i.e. be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. The entry Open and FAIR: Recognising Open Code explains how to recognise Open Code and how openness and FAIR are related.

By the way, Open Code has nothing to do with “open coding”, a step in so-called grounded theory. This is a qualitative research approach that involves an iterative data analysis process with several steps.