PLOS and TCC Africa have renewed their partnership through 2027, continuing joint efforts to strengthen open science across the continent. Since 2021, the collaboration has focused on making open science more inclusive and locally grounded, ensuring African research communities are better represented in publications and policy dialogues.
The renewed partnership will build on established work in multiple countries, emphasizing sustainable outcomes. Planned activities include expanding national and regional open science dialogues, supporting institutional and national policy review and monitoring, deepening capacity‑building initiatives, and strengthening engagement with early career researchers.
Both organizations highlighted that open science requires approaches tailored to local contexts rather than uniform solutions. Roheena Anand, Executive Director of Global Publishing Development and Sales at PLOS, explained that the partnership has enabled engagement with local stakeholders to better understand barriers to participation in open science. She noted that the next phase of collaboration reflects a shared commitment to inclusivity and broader participation.
Over the past five years, the partnership has advanced open science through regional and national initiatives. Early work in East Africa included a Memorandum of Understanding with the East African Commission for Science & Technology (EASTECO), which led to the integration of open science principles into the region’s Science, Technology, and Innovation policy in 2024. Collaborations with the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN) have further expanded dialogues across Africa, including recent efforts in Morocco.
National dialogues in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and other countries have provided platforms for governments, policymakers, and research councils to align open science principles with national priorities, institutional policies, and infrastructure needs. In Tanzania, for example, discussions contributed to new National Guidelines for the Recognition and Promotion of Scientific Journals, integrating open science platforms and equitable publishing practices.
PLOS and TCC Africa, together with partners such as AAU, EASTECO, and ASREN, plan to continue shaping open science policy and practice in ways that reflect local needs and priorities, supporting the development of a more inclusive and equitable global research ecosystem.
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