The ethical work of openness in qualitative L2 research

Abstract Open scholarship (OS) is increasingly visible in second language acquisition (SLA) and applied linguistics as a means of supporting transparency, rigor, accountability, and knowledge sharing. In qualitative L2 research, however, the ethical implications of openness depend on context, participants, data type, and conditions of circulation. This critical commentary argues that responsible openness is best understood as circulation ethics, or the ethical reasoning required when qualitative materials move across languages, infrastructures, audiences, and political conditions. Drawing on two vignettes, one involving an externally funded fellowship with Ukrainian refugees in Poland and another involving research connected to Cuba, we distinguish broader qualitative research ethics from concerns generated or intensified by OS. We then develop a relational and CARE-informed framework for evaluating decisions about openness, including decisions to limit, delay, control, or refuse access. Refusal is accountable when it is documented and reasoned, not when it is simply asserted. The commentary proposes an ethical access statement and a decision framework for documenting access decisions related to consent, translation, contextual detail, risk, reuse, and institutional support. We argue that qualitative L2 research can contribute to OS by shifting evaluation from the quantity of materials made public to the accountability of the decisions that govern circulation. Responsible openness requires shared support among researchers, institutions, funders, journals, and reviewers.