Digital Science, Figshare and Springer Nature publish the new results in The State of Open Data 2025: A Decade of Progress and Challenges.
(26 Jan 2026) The 10th anniversary edition of the State of Open Data report, published by Digital Science, Figshare and Springer Nature, shows that open data has become strongly embedded into research practice with FAIR1 awareness now widely recognized, AI is reshaping research workflows, and support for openness remains high.
The report, now in its 10th year, is the longest running study into open research behavior and attitudes. Combining survey data from more than 4,700 responses across 151 countries with global expert perspectives from researchers, librarians and policy leaders, it provides an unprecedented insight into the challenges and opportunities around open research, helping to outline progress and priorities for the next decade.
Key findings include:
- Open research practices are widely supported: 88.1% endorse open access; 80.9% back open data; 75.7% favour open peer review. Researchers value openness and now need practical workflows to make it sustainable.
- Progress has been made despite persistent barriers: Awareness of FAIR has nearly doubled from 2018, with familiarity with FAIR principles nearly tripling from 15.2% in 2018 to 40.6%. However, recognition for data sharing remains insufficient, 69.2% of researchers report they receive too little credit for sharing data. Rewarding data sharing in research assessment is key to sustaining progress.
- Regional and disciplinary variation for national mandates remains: Support for national mandates still varies widely and disciplinary disparities persist, showing that early consensus is adjusting as real-world experience builds. Australia (63.2% support for mandates in 2016 dropped to 27.4% in 2025) and Brazil (64.7% in 2016 and 39% in 2025) saw the steepest year-on-year decline, while India (59.8% in 2016 and 54.7% in 2025) remained stable. This points to the importance of pairing policy with the day-to-day support and infrastructure that make sharing practical and reusable.
- Use of AI to support practice is increasing: Active use of AI for data processing rose from 22.1% in 2024 to 31.9% in 2025 and metadata creation jumped from 16.1% to 25.1%. AI and interoperability will be pivotal in making openness seamless, automated, and trusted, while ethics, research security and clear standards will shape future frameworks.
Download the full report via this link and discover more findings from the report: stateofopendata.com
