There is no research on a dead planet – Fostering ecologically sustainable open science practices in neuroscience

• DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/rju75_v1
• Publication Date: 2025-04-08T18:11:26Z
• Authors: Lara Puhlmann; Alina Koppold; Gordon Feld; Tina B Lonsdorf; Kirsten Hilger; Susanne Vogel; Çağatay Necati Gü...; Alexandros Kastri...; Louisa Kulke; Alexander Lischke; Anett Mueller-Alc...; Julian Packheiser; Matthias F.J. Sperl; Yu-Fang Yang; Laura Bechtold; Sebastian Ocklenburg; Helena Hartmann
• Keywords: Open Science

The rapidly escalating climate crisis poses an existential threat to human wellbeing. Reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions must therefore become a primary goal of humanity. At the same time, advancing knowledge on experience and behaviour through empirical research is likewise essential for wellbeing, but can incur substantial negative impact environment. Neuroscientific methods are particularly resource intensive potentially harmful, from carbon footprint MRI scanners long-term data centres keeping datasets permanently accessible scientific reuse. This position paper addresses resulting tension between research, open science principles, responsible stewardship in times crisis. We discuss how sustainable practices be implemented neuroscience at each step cycle following ARIADNE framework. Specifically, we suggest (1) re-place new with data, (2) re-fine make them more sustainable, (3) re-duce emission testing by precisely determining sample sizes protocols beforehand.