In December 2025, the South African government approved a National Open Science Policy requiring that all research outputs arising from public funding be made available through open access. The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation published details of the policy in March 2026.
The policy emphasizes that faster and less costly access to scientific results, data, and methods can accelerate discovery and uptake. It also highlights the importance of global interconnectedness in enabling rapid exchange of outputs.
Development of the policy began in 2019 with the establishment of an Open Science Advisory Committee. Public feedback was sought in 2022 before the government formally adopted the policy. It is among the first comprehensive, government-backed open science mandates on the African continent.
Dr. Nokuthula Mchunu, manager of international collaborative research grants at the National Research Foundation and former deputy director of the African Open Science Platform, described the policy as a significant step forward. She noted that the community now has a government-approved framework, whereas previously it relied on the 2021 UNESCO Recommendations on Open Science.
The policy reflects South Africa’s commitment to equity, inclusion, and social justice. Support came from scholars across diverse institutions, including those outside mainstream universities. A coalition of university leaders, researchers in big data, nonprofit organizations, and advocates of indigenous knowledge contributed to the drafting process, which included two major stakeholder engagements.
The policy makes open access compulsory for publicly funded research, guided by the principle “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.” This acknowledges exceptions for security, ethics, and intellectual property while defaulting to openness.
Dr. Mchunu emphasized the need for clarity on practical implementation, funding, and enforcement. She suggested that transitioning away from commercial publishing will require sustainable models and monitoring networks. She also noted calls for a national fund to cover article processing charges (APCs), while stressing the importance of reallocating existing financial resources to build public infrastructure for knowledge dissemination.
She further observed that the academic reward system remains a barrier to open science. South Africa is working to link open science practices to research assessment reform, ensuring that data sharing and open publishing contribute to career advancement. Dr. Mchunu expressed the aspiration that academics communicate science quickly, in multiple languages, and with a focus on solving societal challenges.
In Australia, major funders have introduced new open science policies. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) released policies in February 2026 that allow grantees to submit preprints, publish negative results, share code and software openly, and adopt equitable practices.
Janet Catterall, program manager for Open Access Australasia (OAA), described these changes as significant. The NHMRC had already removed its 12‑month embargo in 2022, requiring immediate open access.
The Australian Research Council (ARC) has also revised its Open Access Policy to align with NHMRC, mandating immediate open access through repositories or Gold OA. ARC encourages openness for books and non‑traditional outputs. Both funders explicitly reference Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance, affirming commitment to the Maiam nayri Wingara Indigenous Data Sovereignty Principles. Their policies require free, prior, and informed community consent, ongoing involvement in research design and dissemination, and adherence to national guidelines.
Catterall noted that having both major funders endorse Indigenous data governance is a substantial development. She also pointed out that while rights retention statements are included, compliance monitoring is not explicitly addressed, leaving responsibility to administering organizations. She emphasized the need for alternative research assessment methods that move away from reliance on journal impact factors.
A 2023 report by COKI estimated that 41% of Australian research outputs were published open access, with more recent data suggesting closer to 62%. The updated NHMRC/MRFF and ARC policies provide an opportunity for the open access community to advance discussions on requirements and advocacy.
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