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Abstract
Discussions around transparency in open science focus primarily on sharing data, materials, and coding
schemes, especially as these practices relate to reproducibility. This fairly quantitative perspective of
transparency does not align with all scientific methodologies. Indeed, qualitative researchers also care deeply
about how knowledge is produced, what factors influence the research process, and how to share this
information. Explicating a researcher’s background and role allows researchers to consider their impact on the
research process and interpretation of the data, thereby increasing both transparency and rigor. Researchers
may engage in positionality and reflexivity in a variety of ways, and transparently sharing these steps allows
readers to draw their own informed conclusions about the results and study as a whole. Imposing a limited,
quantitatively-informed set of standards on all research can cause harm to researchers and the communities
they work with if researchers are not careful in considering the impact of such standards. Our paper will argue
the importance of avoiding strong defaults around transparency (e.g., always share data) and build upon
previous work around qualitative open science. We explore how transparency in all aspects of our research can
lend itself toward projecting and confirming the rigor of our work.