PLOS and Chinese Academy of Sciences join forces on open science programme

The National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NSL, CAS) and PLOS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the Open for Science 10 (OS10) programme. The agreement will see the organisations explore cooperation on scientific and open science resources, development of the OS10 platform’s technical architecture, and open science capacity-building.

PLOS may also participate in OS10 working groups, contributing to areas including resource coordination, technical standards and service design.

The organisations plan to support open science capacity-building in China and other regions participating in OS10 through training, workshops, community engagement and international exchange. They will also explore links between OS10 and PLOS’s Redefining Publishing initiative, as well as further collaboration on open science policy and practice.

The full programme, Towards Open Science Infrastructure Sharing Network: Knowledge and Data Sharing Platform from China – Open for Science 10, was initiated under the leadership of Chinese scientist and Chinese Academy of Sciences member Professor Wei Yang.

OS10 was formally endorsed by UNESCO in February 2025 and aims to develop open science infrastructure in line with the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development. The National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Zhejiang University act as liaison and supporting institutions for the programme, while the CAST-UN Consultative Committee on Open Science and Global Partnership serves as its lead organisation.

According to PLOS, OS10 has so far delivered three main initiatives. The Open4Science platform provides access to more than 100 million open science and technology resources and has reached users in 105 countries.

The programme has also developed the International Specification for Open Knowledge and Data Sharing and Application, intended to support international collaboration and sharing of open science infrastructure.

Its third initiative is the Open Science Readiness Index (OSRI) report and monitoring platform, which maps open science development and trends across all 193 UN member states.

PLOS said the partnership builds on its work to develop publishing models and practices intended to reduce barriers to accessing and sharing research. The organisations said their collaboration would seek to promote the sharing and use of scientific knowledge and data and contribute to the development of international open science infrastructure.