Open Data: why do it, things worth knowing and possible pitfalls

The Open Science movement has gained significant momentum over the past decade. This shift in culture is also ongoing in educational research, as demonstrated by this special issue. In this paper, we focus on one Open Science practice: Open Data. Open Data aims to enhance transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility of scientific research by making research data freely available. We address the role of Open Data within Open Science practices, discuss the rationale for Open Data, and examine its prevalence in educational research. Additionally, we explore key aspects of Open Data, such as FAIR principles, and limitations of access and use. We also address the specific challenges of qualitative research paradigms. Furthermore, we discuss potential pitfalls of Open Data in the form of unintended side effects that may accompany the implementation of Open Data: impact on epistemology, threats to pluralism in research, the Jingle-Jangle Fallacy, and the misuse of Open Data enabled by us as potentially naive researchers. Having offered this food for thought, as proponents of Open Science we conclude by advocating the implementation of Open Data.