The 2025 French Open Science Monitor: significant progress in the communication of clinical trial results

The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space (MESRE) publishes for the seventh year the results of the French Open Science Monitor for 2025. In addition to the open-access rate of French scientific publications, the Monitor also provides indicators on the sharing of clinical trial results, research data, source code, research software, and the open-access rate of doctoral theses. Since last year, it has additionally been tracking the adoption of open-science policies by French institutions.

The French Open Science Monitor is an essential tool for the national policy. It is based on an innovative methodology that represents a model followed in other countries. 

Sharing of clinical trial results ^[1]The clinical trials are research conducted on human beings, involving an intervention other than their usual care (delivery of a drug, use of a medical device, surgical act, etc.) in order to develop biological or medical knowledge. In European Union countries, reporting the results of clinical trials involving drugs within 12 months of their completion was made mandatory by a 2014 regulation. This requirement does not apply to non-drug clinical trials. However, the Open Science Monitor observes all clinical trials without distinction. The following public registries are considered:  ClinicalTrials.gov, an American registry that lists many studies conducted outside the United States, and the EUCTR and the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) in the European Union. : improvement of 9 points in one year for academic lead sponsors. In 2025, 59 % of clinical trials completed between 2012 and 2021 share their results, including negative ones (i.e., trials without evidence of efficacy). This indicator was 52% in 2022 and 54% in 2024 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Trend in the reporting rate of clinical trial results completed between 2012 and 2021, by observation date and for all types of sponsors

Source :  French Open Science Monitor, CC-BY MESRE, https://frenchopensciencemonitor.esr.gouv.fr/health/clinical-trials/general

This increase is mainly due to progress in the communication of clinical trial results by academic lead sponsors. Indeed, the share of clinical trials disseminating their results fell from 31 % in 2024 to 40 % in 2025 for academic lead sponsors, marking a change of 9 points.

Improving this indicator was one of the objectives of the second National Plan for Open Science adopted in 2021. It was made possible by the publication in May 2025 of a report on the importance of communicating the results of clinical trials in France, by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space and the Ministry of Health, Families, Autonomy and Disabled Persons. This report, approved by the Steering Committee for Open Science, received extensive media coverage in the national press. After its publication, a dialogue has been initiated with each academic lead sponsor to share the diagnosis and begin work aimed at removing barriers to the dissemination of clinical trial results. A support unit was established at the National Research Coordination Committee (CNCR). This unit can be reached at the address postage.resultat@cncr.fr.

The sharing modalities differ according to the type of sponsor. Academic lead sponsors primarily communicate via publication in a scientific journal, whereas industrial lead sponsors favor posting results in clinical trial registries (Figure 2). Posting more easily allows rapid communication (without editorial delays) and without bias against negative results, which is often the case in scientific publishing. This suggests that there is still significant room for improvement in the academic sector, in
particular for the communication of negative results.

Figure 2. Posting or publishing: communication methods for clinical trial results completed in 2022

Source : French Open Science Monitor, CC-BY MESRE, https://frenchopensciencemonitor.esr.gouv.fr/health/clinical-trials/results?id=resultats.type-diffusion

Data sharing: the progress started in 2020 continues. Among the publications appearing in 2024 that mention the creation of a dataset, the share of publications that declare its availability is 27 %, an increase of 2 points compared with the previous year (Figure 3). The presence of this declaration does not necessarily imply actual data sharing, but the increase in its presence is a sign of a gradual cultural shift in the practices of data management and sharing linked to scientific publications. The improvement of this indicator has been especially significant over the past four years, rising from 18 % to 27 %. This evolution highlights that the national open‑science policy, driven by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space, in coordination with the whole scientific community, is being successful. The practice of mentioning data sharing is more widespread in Earth Sciences, Ecology, Energy and applied biology than in other disciplines, which indicates the existence of disciplinary differences in the structuring of data management and suggests room for improving.

Figure 3. Proportion of publications that mention sharing a dataset by publication year, among the French publications that mentioned the production of data

Source : French Open Science Monitor, CC-BY MESRE, https://frenchopensciencemonitor.esr.gouv.fr/data-code

Sharing of source code and software: increase of 2 points in one year. Since 2022, each year more than 40% of French publications mention the use of code or software. Software plays a central role as a tool, a research result or a research object across all disciplines. Since last year, there has been a 2‑point increase among French publications that mention the creation of code or software and explicitly state that they share them. This proportion rose from 19% to 21% (Figure 4). It is a positive signal that shows practices are slowly changing in the right direction.

Figure 4. Proportion of French publications that mention the sharing of their code or software by publication year, among the publications that mention the production of codes or software

Source : French Open Science Monitor, CC-BY MESRE, https://frenchopensciencemonitor.esr.gouv.fr/data-code

Doctoral theses available in open access: a high and stable. Based on data from theses.fr and HAL, the open-access rate of doctoral theses was 76 % in 2023, a level comparable to previous years. The regulatory framework provides for online dissemination of theses, with the possibility of temporary embargoes. As each year, the most recent year shows a lower rate (70 %), linked to the presence of theses still under embargo. As in previous years and for publications, disciplinary disparities remain significant, with higher rates in Fundamental Biology and Mathematics and lower rates in Medical Research, Law and Literature.

Open access of French publications: the plateau observed in recent years is confirmed. A break in the series caused by a methodological change in Unpaywall, the data source used in the Monitor, has generated a steady decline since 2013 in the open-access rate of French publications with a Crossref DOI. This indicator stands at 62% in 2025, a result that confirms the plateau observed since 2022.

The Open Science Monitor and the French institutions. A policy monitoring instrument at the national level, the Open Science Monitor also provides tools to facilitate the implementation of local monitors. More than 70 institutions now have their own monitor, built on the model and with the support of the national one. In addition to this support service, since last year the French Open Science Monitor has been tracking the adoption of open‑science policies by institutions. In 2025, 64 % of the institutions considered had an open‑science policy.

To learn more:

• The French Open Science Monitor: https://frenchopensciencemonitor.esr.gouv.fr/
• Consult the MESRE communication (in French): https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/fr/le-barometre-francais-de-la-science-ouverte-2025-100994
• Consult the SIES Flash note: https://frenchopensciencemonitor.esr.gouv.fr/about/communication