Embracing sociology as an open science: A commentary on Aksoy and colleagues' position statement

In their recent Rationality and Society (May 2026) position statement, Aksoy and colleagues advocate that sociology should adopt open science values to be better integrated with its neighboring social science disciplines. In my commentary, I offer my unreserved support to their stance while extending the conversation to an institutional scale. I first summarize the concepts, values, and practices of open science; then, by synthesizing theoretical and empirical evidence, I present how social scientists across all disciplines face systemic challenges in implementing open science practices. Specifically, sociology lags behind its peer social science disciplines in both awareness of open science principles and adoption of its practices. Crucially, by comparing the policies of two internationally prominent social science institutions, I demonstrate how such a deficiency is not the result of individualistic laxity, but of collective institutional negligence. Ultimately, in solidarity with Aksoy and colleagues, I urge the sociology community to actively and extensively engage in open science discourse, embrace open science values, and adopt open science practices in their research.