What is an open book exam?
So what is open book exam format, in one sentence? It is an assessment where candidates may consult permitted resources while they answer the questions.
Your institution decides which resources are permitted. That might be a single textbook, the candidate’s own notes, a printed formula sheet, statutes and case law in a law exam, or any non-human source. Help from another person is almost never allowed, and many institutions also rule out AI assistants. Always read the rules for your exam.
Types of open book exam
- Restricted open book. Only specific materials are allowed, such as one named textbook or a pack of readings supplied with the paper.
- Unrestricted open book. Candidates can use any printed or written material they bring with them.
- Take-home exam. Candidates get the paper and have hours or days to finish it with their own resources before they submit.
- Timed online open book. Candidates sit the exam online within a fixed window with access to permitted materials, often with recording or proctoring to confirm identity and that the work is their own.
Open book vs closed book
| Closed book exam | Open book exam | |
|---|---|---|
| Materials allowed | None, or a formula sheet supplied with the paper | Permitted notes, books or resources |
| What it mostly tests | Recall and understanding | Application, analysis and judgment |
| Typical questions | Define, list, explain | Apply, compare, evaluate, justify |
| Preparation | Memorizing and practice | Understanding, organizing and practice |
| Main integrity risk | Hidden notes, impersonation | Collaboration, outside help, copied answers |
Why institutions use open book assessment
Open book assessment mirrors how professionals actually work. Doctors, engineers and lawyers rarely rely on memory alone. They look things up and apply what they find, and an open book format lets faculty test that skill directly.
It can also:
- Ease the pressure of pure memorization
- Move questions toward higher-order thinking
- Make take-home and online exams more practical, since resources are allowed anyway
- Fit subjects where reference material is part of the job, such as law, accounting and engineering design
Are open book exams easier?
Usually not. Students who plan to look everything up often run out of time. In a well-designed open book exam, no single page holds the answer. You have to find the relevant ideas, connect them and apply them to a new case in your own words, against the clock. Your book can confirm a detail, but the thinking is still up to you.
How to prepare for an open book exam
Before the exam
- Study as if it were closed book. You need to know the material well enough to know where to look and what you’re reading.
- Organize your materials. Tab your textbook, index your notes by topic and put the key formulas, definitions and frameworks on a one-page summary.
- Check what is allowed. Read the rules carefully. If you aren’t sure whether something is permitted, ask before the exam starts.
- Practice with real questions. Time yourself on past or sample questions that ask you to apply ideas as well as recall them.
- For online exams, test your device and connection, and read what will be recorded.
During the exam
- Plan your time. Before you start, decide how long each question gets, then keep to it.
- Answer first, check second. Write down what you know, then use your materials to confirm the details.
- Use your own words. Copying long passages eats time and earns little credit, so explain and apply instead.
- Cite where required. If the exam asks you to reference sources, follow the instructions.
- Work alone. Help from another person, or a tool the rules don’t allow, is misconduct even in an open book exam.
How to design an open book exam
Write questions that need thinking
The best open book questions can’t be answered by finding one sentence in the textbook.
- Use new scenarios. Give candidates a case, data set or problem they haven’t seen, and ask them to apply course ideas to it.
- Ask for judgment. “Which approach would you recommend, and why?” tests more than “Describe the approaches.”
- Ask for comparison and evaluation. Weighing two sources or methods means understanding both of them.
- Require working. In quantitative subjects, ask candidates to show their method. On Proctorly, they can photograph handwritten working on a phone and attach it to the question for the marker.
- Map questions to outcomes. Point each question at a course outcome and a higher Bloom’s level, such as apply, analyze or evaluate.
Set clear rules on resources
Write down exactly what candidates may and may not use, and send it with the exam link:
- Which books, notes or files are allowed
- Whether internet searches are allowed, and on which sites
- Whether calculators or software are allowed
- Whether AI tools are allowed, and if they are, how candidates must declare their use
- That help from any other person is not allowed
Clear rules protect honest candidates. When a rule is vague, a candidate who breaks it can fairly say they didn’t know.
Plan for AI tools and collaboration
An open book exam carries different integrity risks from a closed book one. Hidden notes stop mattering, because notes are allowed. The main risks shift to outside help from another person, answers passed between candidates and, unless the rules permit them, generative-AI tools.
You can reduce these risks if you:
- Give candidates different versions of the questions through item pools and shuffling
- Use personalized scenarios or data sets where possible
- Keep the time window tight enough that sharing answers isn’t practical
- Ask for reasoning tied to the specific scenario, which is harder to copy
- Choose a level of monitoring that fits the stakes of the exam
Integrity in open book exams
Open book still has rules. The work has to be the candidate’s own, and identity still matters. A simple record may be enough for low-stakes formative tests. When an open book paper counts toward a degree, institutions usually want to confirm who sat it and that nobody else helped.
The same principle applies to every format. Technology can raise flags, a person should review them, and the institution should make any decision with the evidence in hand. A permitted textbook on the desk should never be treated as misconduct.
Running an open book exam online with Proctorly
With Proctorly, you set the level of oversight to match the stakes of each open book exam. Here is what it offers:
- Record-only sittings. Practice and low-stakes tests can be recorded without raising flags.
- Assurance levels per exam. Options run from Recorded, with your own staff reviewing, through Every flag reviewed by Proctorly reviewers, to live proctors for high-stakes sittings.
- Question types suited to open book papers. Essay, short answer, numeric with tolerance, file upload and more, plus a maths editor.
- Randomized delivery of questions and options from item pools, so candidates sitting side by side get different papers.
- Section timers and per-section instructions, so the resource rules show on screen exactly where they apply.
- Handwritten working, photographed on a phone and attached to the question.
- Identity through the session, with face verification at the start and throughout.
- Human review of every flag, with your institution making the final call.
If you need the locked session and monitoring settings adjusted to allow specific resources during an open book exam, such as other browser tabs or local files, confirm the details with us for your exam.
An allow-list of permitted apps, built-in calculator and formula tools, and accommodations that travel with the candidate are planned and not available yet. For now, base your resource rules on printed or paper materials where the exam needs them.
Frequently asked questions
What is an open book exam in simple words?
It is a test where you can use approved materials, such as your textbook or notes, while you answer. The institution decides exactly which resources are allowed, and help from another person almost never is. Questions usually ask you to apply ideas to new problems, so you still need to understand the subject well.
How do you study for an open book exam?
Study as though it were closed book, so you understand the material and know where to find things. Then organize your resources: tab your textbook, index your notes and write a one-page summary of key ideas and formulas. Practice timed questions that ask you to apply concepts. On the day, answer first and use your materials to check details.
Can you cheat in an open book exam?
Yes. Using a resource the rules don’t allow, sharing answers or getting help from another person is misconduct, even when books are permitted. Institutions use different question versions, tight time windows and, where the stakes justify it, recording or proctoring with human review. Using a permitted book is never misconduct, while outside help always is, so doing your own work is the only safe route.
Is an open book assessment harder than a closed book exam?
Often, yes. Since resources are allowed, faculty write questions that test application, analysis and judgment over recall. Many students underestimate how long it takes to find, connect and apply information. Candidates who prepare as they would for a closed book exam, and organize their materials well, tend to do best in open book assessment.
Can open book exams be proctored online?
Yes. Institutions can record or proctor an online open book exam to confirm who is sitting it and that the work is independent. On Proctorly, each exam gets its own assurance level, from record-only sittings with no flags up to live proctors, and a person reviews every flag before your institution makes any decision.
Next steps
Running open book papers online this semester? See how Proctorly delivers, records and reviews them on one platform.
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