A complex optical model potential modified by incorporating the concept of bonded atom, which takes into consideration the overlapping effect of electron clouds between atoms in a molecule, is firstly employed to calculate the absolute differential, elastic integrated and moment transfer cross sections for electron scattering by OCS over the incident energy range from 200 to 1000 eV using the additivity rule model at Hartree–Fock level. The calculated results are compared with those obtained by experiment and other theories wherever available, and good agreement is obtained over a wide energy range. It is shown that the additivity rule model together with the modified potential is completely suitable for calculating the absolute differential, elastic integrated and moment transfer cross sections of electron scattering by molecules such as OCS.