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Center for Open Science

EIN 46-1496217 · Charlottesvle, VA

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthGood89 out of 100GovernanceStrong100 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

THE CENTER FOR OPEN SCIENCE (COS) IS DEDICATED TO INCREASING OPENNESS, INTEGRITY, AND REPRODUCIBILITY IN SCHOLARLY RESEARCH.

Income
$10.2 million
Spending
$8.8 million
Spent on programs
85%
Reserves
9.6 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 80%
Employees
57
Volunteers
35
Highest pay
$262,600, executive director

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Good: 89 out of 100. Higher than 75% of charities in its peer group (science, $10m to $100m).

  • Reserves

    28 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 9.6 months of spending.

  • Debt

    16 of 20

    It owes 18% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    15 of 15

    Income exceeded spending by 14% of income.

  • Income trend

    15 of 15

    Income rose 26% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    85% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 3 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 49% of charities in its peer group (science, $10m to $100m).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    11 of 11 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (3)
  1. $4.3 million spent. INFRASTRUCTURE:THE OPEN SCIENCE FRAMEWORK (OSF; WWW.OSF.IO) IS A COMMUNITY-DRIVEN PLATFORM THAT SUPPORTS RESEARCHERS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE RESEARCH PROCESS--FROM PLANNING AND DATA COLLECTION TO ANALYSIS, COLLABORATION, AND SHARING. BY PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCESSIBILITY, OSF ENABLES RESEARCHERS TO ADVANCE AND VALIDATE THEIR WORK MORE EFFECTIVELY.IN 2024, OSF EXPERIENCED CONTINUED GROWTH, WITH 121,594 NEW USERS, 105,868 NEW PUBLIC PROJECTS, REGISTRATIONS, AND PREPRINTS, NEARLY 30 MILLION VIEWS OF HOSTED CONTENT, AND 50 MILLION FILE DOWNLOADS.COS IMPLEMENTED KEY ENHANCEMENTS TO STREAMLINE WORKFLOWS AND IMPROVE USABILITY, INCLUDING: (I) BOA, A TOOL FOR LARGE-SCALE DATA MINING; (II) CEDAR INTEGRATION TO SUPPORT CUSTOM FAIR METADATA; AND (III) A REVAMPED PREPRINTS INTERFACE TO SIMPLIFY SUBMISSIONS AND ENHANCE DISCOVERABILITY.COS ALSO EXPANDED ITS MODULAR TRAINING PROGRAM TO HELP RESEARCHERS ADOPT OPEN SCIENCE PRACTICES WITH GREATER EASE AND CONFIDENCE.
  2. $1.7 million spent. METASCIENCE:AS METASCIENCE GAINS GLOBAL TRACTION, COS HELPED COORDINATE AND ACCELERATE THE FIELD THROUGH THE LAUNCH OF THE METASCIENCE ALLIANCE. THE ALLIANCE SERVES AS A COLLABORATIVE HUB CONNECTING RESEARCHERS, FUNDERS, INSTITUTIONS, PUBLISHERS, POLICYMAKERS, INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDERS, AND OTHERS WORKING TO STRENGTHEN THE SCIENTIFIC ECOSYSTEM.THE ALLIANCE FOCUSES ON: (I) BUILDING COALITIONS THROUGH CONVENINGS, NETWORKING EVENTS, AND RESOURCES THAT CONNECT COMMUNITIES ACROSS DISCIPLINES AND SECTORS; (II) STRENGTHENING THE WORKFORCE BY SUPPORTING NEW CAREER PATHWAYS, OFFERING CROSS-SECTOR TRAINING, AND LAUNCHING PROGRAMS FOR POSTDOCTORAL AND EARLY-CAREER INNOVATORS; (III) ENABLING MATCHMAKING AMONG RESEARCHERS, FUNDERS, AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDERS TO DESIGN COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS; AND (IV) ALIGNING AND AMPLIFYING METASCIENCE EFFORTS TO REDUCE DUPLICATION AND ACCELERATE SHARED PROGRESS.COS ALSO CONTINUED TO ADVANCE ITS OWN METASCIENCE RESEARCH THROUGH PROJECTS SUCH AS THE OPEN SCHOLARSHIP SURVEY (OSS) AND PILOT INITIATIVES INCLUDING BENCHMARKING LLM AGENTS ON SCIENTIFIC TASKS, SMART: SCALING MACHINE ASSESSMENTS OF RESEARCH TRUSTWORTHINESS, AND THE REGISTERED REVISIONS PROJECT, WHICH EVALUATES INNOVATIONS IN PEER REVIEW.THE OPEN SCHOLARSHIP SURVEY (OSS) IS A STANDARDIZED, MODULAR TOOL USED TO ASSESS RESEARCHER ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND PERCEPTIONS REGARDING OPEN SCHOLARSHIP. IT IDENTIFIES KEY "GAPS"-- BETWEEN ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS, PERCEPTIONS AND NORMS, AND BARRIERS TO ADOPTION--THAT INFORM TARGETED INTERVENTIONS SUCH AS TRAINING AND INCENTIVE REFORM. IN 2024, COS DEPLOYED THE THIRD WAVE OF THIS LONGITUDINAL STUDY, TRACKING CHANGES IN RESEARCHER ENGAGEMENT WITH OPEN SCIENCE PRACTICES OVER TIME.ACROSS ITS INFRASTRUCTURE, POLICY, AND METASCIENCE INITIATIVES, COS CONTINUES TO ADVANCE A MORE TRANSPARENT, TRUSTWORTHY, AND COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM.
  3. $1.4 million spent. POLICY/COMMUNITY:MOMENTUM FOR OPEN SCIENCE CONTINUED TO GROW IN 2024 AS GOVERNMENTS, FUNDING AGENCIES, AND INSTITUTIONS STRENGTHENED REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSPARENCY AND REPRODUCIBILITY. COS'S TRANSPARENCY AND OPENNESS PROMOTION (TOP) GUIDELINES, FIRST INTRODUCED IN 2015, RECEIVED A MAJOR UPDATE IN 2024. THE REVISED VERSION CLARIFIED STANDARDS, REFINED IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES, AND REINFORCED THE IMPORTANCE OF DATA SHARING, PREREGISTRATION, AND REPLICATION IN RESEARCH ASSESSMENT--FURTHERING COS'S ROLE IN ADVANCING CREDIBLE AND TRANSPARENT SCIENCE.COS WORKED WITH RESEARCH COMMUNITIES TO MAKE OPEN SCIENCE THE EVERYDAY NORM FOR CREDIBLE RESEARCH. THROUGH TARGETED CULTURE CHANGE INITIATIVES, COS CATALYZED THE ADOPTION OF OPEN PRACTICES WITHIN SPECIFIC DOMAINS. TWO MAJOR 2024 EFFORTS INCLUDED: (I) THE GLOBAL FLOURISHING STUDY, INCORPORATING DATA FROM MORE THAN 200,000 PARTICIPANTS ACROSS 22 COUNTRIES, AND (II) THE INSTAGRAM DATA ACCESS PILOT SELECTED FOUR RESEARCH TEAMS FROM OVER 40 SUBMISSIONS.BOTH INITIATIVES INTEGRATED CORE OPEN SCIENCE PRACTICES--SUCH AS PREREGISTRATION AND REGISTERED REPORTS--INTO THEIR DESIGN, SETTING A NEW STANDARD FOR TRANSPARENCY AND COLLABORATION IN LARGE-SCALE RESEARCH.IN 2024, COS ALSO LAUNCHED LIFECYCLE JOURNAL, A NEW PUBLISHING PLATFORM THAT REDEFINES SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION BY ALIGNING RECOGNITION WITH TRANSPARENCY AND RIGOR. LIFECYCLE JOURNAL EVALUATES RESEARCH BASED ON METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY AND OPENNESS RATHER THAN NOVELTY ALONE, REWARDING ROBUST AND REPRODUCIBLE WORK THROUGHOUT THE RESEARCH LIFECYCLE.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since February 2014.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.

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