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The economic benefits of Open Science Executive Summary. March 2026 | Reading time 6 minutes Authors: Cristina Rosemberg, Aphra Murray, Alexander Holmes, Shrishti Kajaria Commissioned by PLOS Acknowledgement: We thank Rob Johnson (Research Consulting) for his constructive review of this work. Context: PLOS Redefining Publishing. This report is an output of PLOS's Redefining Publishing program, supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program explores how scholarly communication can evolve to better support Open Science at scale, including moving beyond the article by recognizing a wider range of research contributions and identifying more sustainable financial models to support them. As part of this work, PLOS commissioned the Technopolis Group to provide an independent study on the economic benefits of Open Science to clarify where economic value is created in an Open Science ecosystem, what conditions enable it, and where structural barriers and cost pressures remain. Executive Summary. This report examines the economic implications of Open Science and what it would mean to move towards a research ecosystem in which research elements, including data, code, software, workflows, methods, and publications, are openly shared and valued. Because the Open Science ecosystem is vast and the ambition of this work is necessarily system-wide, the study focuses on the components most likely to yield actionable insight: (1) a rapid evidence assessment to bring together dispersed economic evidence into an actionable evidence base, and (2) a set of illustrative case studies to demonstrate how value is created in practice across different types of open outputs and infrastructures. The study focused on three key areas: * Understanding the impacts of migrating to an OS ecosystem in which all types of research outputs are valued. * Exploring the costs of such a transition for the scholarly communication ecosystem. * Evaluating the variety of economic impacts arising from an Open Science transition. To ensure the findings reflect the breadth of Open Science beyond publications alone, the study includes five illustrative case studies spanning digital collections, computational workflows, open-source software, an open large language model, and open training resources. These were selected to represent different pathways to value, including efficiency, innovation, and human-capital benefits, and different patterns of cost and responsibility across the ecosystem (see Section 4 and Appendix C). Findings. Open Science delivers significant economic benefits when it enables reuse at scale The most consistent and measurable benefits arise through efficiency gains Open infrastructures enable innovation and downstream spillover value Network effects mean Open Science benefits can compound over time Costs are unevenly distributed across stakeholders, creating barriers to scale The economic value of Open Science is systematically underestimated Closing summary. Taken together, the evidence assessment and case studies show that the economic case for Open Science lies in its ability to enable reuse of research outputs at scale. When Open Science is implemented in ways that support reuse through appropriate infrastructure, incentives, and coordination, the sharing of data, code, software, workflows, methods, and publications can deliver measurable efficiency gains, support innovation, and strengthen long-term economic performance. The findings in this report provide a robust evidence base that supports the value of a transition toward Open Science and helps clarify where economic value is created and where barriers remain. The full report sets out the underlying methods and case study results in detail and provides the evidence underpinning each point in this Executive Summary, supporting deeper exploration of the analysis and sources. As an output of PLOS's Redefining Publishing program, this analysis underscores the value of system-level change beyond the article and provides a strong foundation for the next phase of the program. If you'd like to stay updated about our progress, please provide your details here.

Uganda hosts landmark Open Science Stakeholders' Meeting. The Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST), Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa), Makerere University, and the Public Library of Science (PLOS) co-convened the Uganda Open Science Stakeholders' Meeting on 24th September 2025 at the College of Computing and Information Sciences, Makerere University. The partnership between the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa), the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST), and the Public Library of Science (PLOS) began in 2023 with the shared goal of advancing Open Science in Uganda through advocacy, policy engagement, and capacity building. As part of this collaboration, the partners co-developed the Uganda Open Science Stakeholder Mapping Survey, which was rolled out in July 2025 to assess the national Open Science landscape, identify key actors, and uncover existing gaps and opportunities for coordinated action. Insights from the survey informed the Uganda Open Science Stakeholders' Meeting, held on 24th September 2025. The blended meeting brought together a diverse group of representatives across Uganda's Open Science landscape - from government, academia, libraries,and international partners - all united by a shared vision: to strengthen the foundations of Open Science in Uganda. The meeting marked a critical step in advancing national efforts to build an enabling environment for Open Science. Key objectives included: * Presenting the findings of the Uganda Open Science Stakeholder Analysis. * Facilitating dialogue among stakeholders to align priorities and identify synergies. * Exploring pathways towards a National Open Science Roadmap or Policy. * Promoting knowledge exchange and collaboration across institutions and sectors. Speakers included leaders and representatives from Makerere University, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST), East Africa Science and Technology Commission(EASTECO), the Ministry of Education (Kenya), Uganda Library and Information Association (ULIA), African Institute For Capacity Development (AICAD), PLOS, Research and Education Network for Uganda (RENU), Consortium of Uganda University Libraries (CUUL). "So when we started the conversation, we realized that open science cuts across the ecosystem, whether you're talking about private sector, ministries, departments and agencies. Open science is open, It is actually in every percent of our life." Dr. Martin Ongol, Acting Executive Secretary of the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) "These are the foundational conversations we need to have on adopting open science, such that by the time you have the policies, you have all these systems set in place that can aid in the implementation." Joy Owango, Executive Director of the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) "I think that we need to have more and these collaborators need to work with libraries specifically on how to integrate libraries into the National Open Science roadmap, specifically on the policy." Dr. Fredrick Lugya, University Librarian at Busitema University and President of the Uganda Library and Information Association (ULIA) "PLOS supports the leadership shown by the Ugandan authorities and their growing efforts to engage all stakeholders in shaping open science solutions that support researchers and promote a more transparent, inclusive, and equitable scientific process" remarked Roheena Anand, Executive Director of Global Publishing Development at PLOS. The Uganda Open Science Stakeholders' Meeting concluded with a call to action: stronger collaboration, investment in infrastructure, capacity building, and national coordination are essential to advancing Uganda's Open Science movement. The outcomes of this meeting will guide the Ministry of Education and Sports in integrating Open Science principles into national policies and acts, ensuring that Uganda's researchers and institutions are well-positioned to make meaningful contributions to the global Open Science agenda. Access the meeting recording here: https://tccafrica.pubpub.org/pub/5qsggryo/release/1