France’s new Open Science Strategy: towards a new phase of open research

France has launched its Open Science Strategy 2026–2033, setting out the country's priorities for the next eight years and marking a new phase in its national open science policy.

Since the first French National Plan for Open Science was launched in 2018, France has developed a strong national ecosystem around open access, research data, software and open science infrastructures. The new strategy builds on these achievements while broadening the scope of open science across the research lifecycle.

From publications to the whole research cycle

The strategy is structured around eight objectives covering both the research ecosystem and specific research outputs: publications, research data, software and clinical trial results.

Open access remains an important priority. According to the French Open Science Monitor, the proportion of French scientific publications available in open access has increased substantially since 2018. The next challenge is to extend this progress to other research outputs and make openness an integral part of research practices.

Research data and software are therefore given a much more prominent place in the new strategy. France intends to strengthen the sharing and reuse of research data according to FAIR principles, while improving the recognition, visibility and preservation of research software.

Stronger infrastructures, stronger European connections

A key message of the strategy is the need to consolidate the infrastructures and services that underpin open science.

France has developed major national infrastructures such as HAL, Recherche Data Gouv and Software Heritage. The new strategy aims to strengthen this ecosystem and to support new services, including a national forge for research software.

But open science infrastructures cannot operate in isolation. Persistent identifiers, metadata, interoperability standards and discovery services increasingly connect research outputs across institutional and national boundaries.

This is where the European dimension becomes particularly important. The strategy explicitly identifies France's contribution to European and international open science as one of its eight strategic objectives.

The next eight years

The first action plan, covering 2026–2029, translates the strategy into 30 actions and 75 measures.

The transition from successive national plans to an eight-year strategy reflects the growing maturity of open science in France. The challenge is now not simply to promote openness, but to make it sustainable, interoperable and embedded in everyday research practices.

For the European open science community, the French strategy provides another example of how national policies and infrastructures can contribute to a more connected research ecosystem.

The next step will be to turn these ambitions into concrete services, practices and collaborations — both nationally and across Europe.

Read the French government's press release here.