Open Science for Evaluation Use: How Applying Open Science Principles Can Further Open up Evaluation

ABSTRACT This article explores how open science principles can enhance evaluation practices. It identifies open science approaches that can be integrated at various stages of the evaluation process to improve the use and impact of evaluations within the evaluation community and society, thereby increasing their overall value. This article is relevant to evaluators at all career stages seeking to understand ways they could incorporate a more open approach, where possible, into their evaluation work and to all those involved in the evaluation field, including donors and program implementers, considering how they can maximize the broad contribution of evaluations they are involved in. The article provides a guiding framework of open science principles and open approaches relevant to the evaluation process, providing a starting point for evaluators interested in incorporating these approaches. The key message is that by applying an open science lens to their evaluations, evaluators can be empowered to explicitly think of the value their work could have for the evaluation community and society, beyond intended users for specific evaluations, and to drive knowledge creation for sharing and use in the broader field of evaluation.