The ERC grant system has had a significant impact on the academic profession in Europe, by enforcing norms about what constitutes a promising research career, increasing the autonomy of individual top scholars and facilitating competition between universities. Winning an ERC starting grant has a considerable effect on individual career prospects. A grant significantly increases the likelihood of promotion, and the effect seems to be robust to a potential “selection bias” or individual research performance. While the grant increases the negotiation position of the grant winner, moving to another university is rare. Increased visibility and prestige within the university seem to contribute to career progress.

In this editorial, we present the new guidelines for research transparency and open data when publishing in European Political Science. These standards are drawn from the Transparency and Openness Promotion guidelines. In introducing these guidelines, we take an opportunity to reflect on the importance of research transparency, the challenges that it faces, and offer a few suggestions to encourage and foster a culture of open data.