On 20 October 2026, Satellite Symposium 5, “Open Science, Research Assessment and Publishing,” took place at the National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NSLC), as part of the 2026 International Science Council (ISC) Midterm Members Meeting and Beijing Science Dialogue. At the symposium, NSLC launched OPEN SCIENCE, a new diamond open access journal that explores community-led publishing centred on knowledge contributions. The journal provides a new platform for translating open science principles into practice and strengthening international cooperation.

During the outcomes launch session, Qu Jiansheng, Director of NSLC and Editor-in-Chief of OPEN SCIENCE, formally launched the journal, which adopts an innovative publishing model known as meta-publishing (MetaPub). Building on NSLC’s longstanding efforts to develop capacity for data dissemination and use and to establish open science infrastructures, the journal brings together the concept of meta-knowledge and the MetaPub publishing model. It was among the first initiatives endorsed under UNESCO’s International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024–2033), also known as the Science Decade. Positioned as an international, community-driven, fully open-access journal, OPEN SCIENCE is the world’s first scientific journal directly named “Open Science.” It publishes both research on open science and research conducted through open science approaches across STEM fields, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, life sciences, Earth sciences, engineering and computing.

The journal’s core innovation is its exploration of Meta-Knowledge Publishing beyond traditional article boundaries. Using meta-knowledge as the basic unit of organisation, it represents research questions, hypotheses, methods, processes, data, findings and conclusions as identifiable, citable, linkable and computable knowledge objects. Each object retains its original context, source location and relationships with other objects. A Meta-Knowledge Identifier (MKI) identifies the object and its version, enabling specific knowledge contributions to be tracked, cited and reused and supporting the recognition of research contributions and research assessment. By connecting knowledge objects across studies according to their content and meaning, the journal enables readers to move from reading papers to exploring knowledge networks. It also provides a basis for artificial intelligence to directly access and reuse research knowledge.

The journal operates on a non-profit, community-supported basis. All articles are freely available under a CC BY 4.0 licence, individual authors pay no article processing charges, and all manuscripts undergo editorial assessment and peer review. Its editorial structure comprises the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editors, a Steering Committee, an Editorial Board, a Youth Editorial Board and an Editorial Office. International members account for more than 30% of the editorial board. The journal explores the verification of three categories of attributes: open science, research integrity and research reproducibility. It is also collaborating with the EU-funded TRUSTparency project, with preparations for pilot work under way, to help build a trustworthy knowledge ecosystem.

Since 2003, NSLC has promoted open access and open science governance, working to advance and lead knowledge and data sharing, the interconnection of open science infrastructures, and the monitoring of open science maturity worldwide. Its open science work addresses the needs of the Global South and research communities with limited resources, supporting their participation in knowledge creation, dissemination and use, as well as in shaping open science rules and practices. These efforts contribute to an open, inclusive, trustworthy and sustainable research ecosystem.

Journal website: https://mpos.open4science.cn/

Journal contact: openscience@mail.las.ac.cn