Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Open Or Openwashing? Preliminary Findings From A Content Analysis Of Publisher Websites, Courtney Waugh, Emily Carlisle-Johnston

FIMS Presentations

The term openwashing originated in 2009, when Michelle Thorne coined and defined it as the process of “spin[ning] a product or company as open, although it is not.” The term has since become more commonplace around scholars and practitioners, who sometimes call out acts of openwashing to signal that despite claims suggesting otherwise, a product, service, or company does not fulfill requirements to be Open.

A recent literature review by the authors concluded that while research on the topic is minimal, commentary on openwashing coalesces around two themes: marketing and transparency. Openness as a virtue has become a marketing asset …