Creating positive CHANGE with Open Science
Practicing Open Science helps get your work into the hands of decision-makers and to create the potential for positive change.
By partnering across distance and discipline, and sharing research results broadly, researchers are ensuring their work is more widely read and shared, influencing practices in their fields, as well as in public policy and government, and society at large.
Watch this video to see why research needs CHANGE
Researchers who value change are making a real-world difference, contributing to enhanced understanding and effective interventions that can accomplish everything from saving lives to protecting the planet, and more.
Share more, share sooner, share widely. See what a difference Open Science can make
Simple actions you can take to ensure that your research is in the best position to make a difference and affect positive change.
Preprints work prior to, and in parallel with, formal journal publications to maximize a study’s potential reach and increase its potential for readership, citations, and for change.
PLOS offers flexible preprint options for every discipline and workflow.
- Take advantage of our partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) to transfer a preprint from bioRxiv or medRxiv to the journal of your choice.
- Opt-in to have a manuscript posted to either server as part of the PLOS submission process.
- Link to a preprint already posted on your preferred server.
For a research finding to successfully influence professional practice or governmental policy, it has to be reproducible.
Underpinning your findings with public methods, protocols, data, and code gives other researchers the tools they need to understand and replicate your work, while the gesture of transparency gives lay readers increased confidence in its validity.
Open Access licensing ensures that your work is discoverable and accessible by anyone, anywhere in the world increasing readership and citations of your research.
Choosing an Open Access license advances information equity by making your research more visible, useful, and more transparent. Open licensing makes research accessible immediately upon publication, with no restrictions.
Anyone with internet access can find, read, mine, cite and share OA articles at no cost to them.
Even minor findings can have major impacts down the line–whether it’s a small discovery that forms the seed for a later investigation or a null result that saves another research group time that could be lost pursuing a dead end.
In order for work to exert a meaningful impact, it must first find its audience. Use these tools and tactics to spread your message and maximize your readership.
We also have downloadable images for you to use across email and social media to help promote your article.
PLOS Director of Strategic Partnerships, Sara Rouhi, explains why she believes Open Access and inclusivity go hand-in-hand.
How do you want your research to make a difference?
Learn how other Open Science practices benefit your work and the research community
Explore your publishing options with PLOS
How much do you already incorporate Open Science as part of your research process?
How do your actions support scientific communications?
With multiple time pressures and choices, which of your values influence the decisions you make. Challenge yourself to find out your motivations by taking our quiz, then learn how your values are helping to make science communication stronger.