As the movement for openness began to take shape, the international advocacy group Speaking of Research published a timely open letter in USA Today which called upon American institutions to embrace these burgeoning principles of openness. At the same time, similar calls were made in the scientific literature to increase openness surrounding animal research. On example includes an ILAR Journal Article, “Communicating Animal Research to the Public” which provided a peer reviewed history, approach and suggestions on open and transparent communications about animal research.

This momentum carried the research community to a 2-hour formal meeting, hosted by the authors of the aforementioned ILAR Journal article, at the fall 2019 annual meeting of the American Association of Laboratory Animal Medicine (AALAS). The meeting, titled “Discussion about Openness Agreement in the U.S.” explored whether a formal animal research agreement should be pursued.  There was consensus to move forward as an "intitiative" thus the "The U.S. Animal Research Openness Initiative" was born.  The in-person meeting was followed by a webinar, titled, “Considering an Openness Agreement in the U.S: A Discussion,” to gather additional thougths and ideas informing the way forward. Within a few months, a steering committee was formed and the process of developing an Openness Agreement in the United States began.