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When you choose to publish with PLOS, your research makes an impact. Make your work accessible to all, without restrictions, and accelerate scientific discovery with options like preprints and published peer review that make your work more Open.

Open Code

Open Code refers to custom, author-generated code used in a scientific research study—often during data collection, interpretation or analysis—and subsequently made publicly available under an Open Access license via a linked repository, or as Supporting Information.

Benefits of Open Code

Like all methodological documentation, open code gives context that helps readers understand the work, supports reproducibility, and improves the efficiency of subsequent related research.

Earn readers’ trust
Demonstrate the credibility of your results by sharing the code used in your analysis.

Accelerate progress
Empower others to adapt and build upon your accomplishments. Did you know that 48% of surveyed researchers consult code in order to reuse or repurpose it? Post your author-created code to a repository linked to your published article to help your field progress faster.

Reach new communities
Methodological documentation like Open Code transcend discipline, bringing together researchers with a broad range of expertise to address research questions in new ways.

Expand your influence
Transparency increases trust and sharing code increases usability, maximizing your own citation potential.

Do readers really want access to code?

Yes

In a survey of PLOS Computational Biology authors conducted in February and March of 2021, over 75% of respondents report consulting the code associated with published manuscripts when available. Their aims when consulting code included…
0 %

Aiding understanding of the article

0 %

Verifying or exploring code directly

0 %

Reusing or repurposing code

0 %

Better understanding methods

0 %

Assessing the quality of the research

0 %

Replicating the study using their own data

Explore the latest Open Code research and thought leadership

Code-sharing with Nikola Stikov and Jean-Baptiste Poline

Listen as Nikola Stikov of University of Montreal and Jean-Baptiste Poline of McGill University explore subjects relating to Open Code practice, the role of data and code in communicating reproducible research, and what the future may hold.

Learn more about the benefits of Open Science.   Open Science

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