OUR WORK ISN’T DONE
Join us as we continue to advance Open Science for researchers and readers.
Empowering Researchers to Transform Science
PLOS is a nonprofit, Open Access publisher empowering researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication.
We’ve been breaking boundaries since 2001. We propelled the movement for OA alternatives to subscription journals. We established the first multi-disciplinary publication inclusive of all research regardless of novelty or impact. And we demonstrated the importance of open data availability.
To all the researchers practicing Open Science today, thank you for paving the way for future researchers.
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Leading a Transformation in Science Communication
The idea for PLOS began in 2000, when an open letter was circulated by founders Harold Varmus, Patrick Brown and Michael Eisen.
Nearly 34,000 scientists from 180 countries signed.
Recognizing that most existing journals were resistant to changing their business practices, in 2003 we launched our first fully Open Access journal in order to empower researchers to make science immediately and publicly available online, without restrictions. Our Article Processing Charge model, though revolutionary at the time, would soon pave the way for a new wave of publishing options and ensure the future of Open Access.
...we will publish in, edit and review for, and personally subscribe to only those scholarly and scientific journals that have agreed to grant unrestricted free distribution rights to any and all original research reports.
OUR GOALS HAVEN’T CHANGED
Break Boundaries
To advance research faster, share more broadly, and increase collaboration
Empower Researchers
To transform science through inclusivity, choice, credit, and transparency
Redefine Quality
To assess and communicate the full arc of research more fairly and accurately
Open Science
To build a foundation of knowledge from which we all advance
OUR HISTORY
2001
PLOS launches as a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication.
2003
PLOS Biology, the Open Access alternative to leading biology journals, draws 500,000 visitors within hours of publishing its first article.
2004
PLOS Medicine provides free access to high-quality, reliable medical research to the public and world’s physicians with a focus on diseases that take the greatest global toll.
2005
PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Genetics and PLOS Pathogens prove Open Access in specialized areas and draw on expertise from the scientific community to improve author experience.
2006
PLOS ONE, the first multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal to focus on rigorous research and ethics rather than perceived impact, redefines the scientific journal.
2007
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases launches with a focus on diseases with limited visibility and funding that affect an estimated 1.1 billion of the world’s poor
2008
The first International Open Access Week, co-founded by PLOS, SPARC and Students for Free Culture to promote Open Access globally, addresses themes ranging from Open for Collaboration, Generation Open and Redefining Impact.
2009
PLOS Blogs Network launches as a platform for news and community discussion from all fields of science and scholarly communication.
PLOS Article-Level Metrics available for each and every published article, giving authors the opportunity to track their unique research impact across multiple channels in real time.
2011
Curated PLOS Collections on focused themes ease discovery and provide opportunity for breadth of coverage from PLOS journals, blogs and external sources all in one place.
2013
The Accelerating Science Awards Program (ASAP) co-sponsored by PLOS, honors pioneers using Open Access research to benefit society. The program attracts 200 nominations from 30 countries.
2014
The PLOS Data Policy ensures a research article’s underlying data is available to the science community, promoting new discovery, replication and validation.
2016
PLOS partners with bioRxiv so that authors can directly transfer their work to PLOS after sharing their work early as a preprint.
Implementation of standardized CRediT roles and ORCID iDs make it easier for authors to track and receive recognition for their unique contributions.
2017
PLOS Channels with external editors provide opportunity for discovery, exploration and contextual insights.
2018
PLOS makes posting a preprint even easier by giving authors the option to check a box at submission and have us post a preprint to bioRxiv on their behalf.
2019
Published Peer Review History gives authors and reviewers more options to increase the transparency of the publication process by making decision letters and review comments available for published manuscripts.
Reviewers opt-in to receive automatic credit for their reviews and add more nuance to their scholarly profiles through ORCID.
2020
PLOS partners with libraries to develop two new business models, Community Action Publishing and Flat Fees, which can significantly reduce or eliminate Open Access publication fees for PLOS authors.
2021
PLOS launches five new journals; PLOS Climate, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Global Public Health, PLOS Sustainability and Transformation and PLOS Water addressing global health and environmental challenges from a foundation of Open Science.
Global Equity institutional partnership model launches to support regionally equitable Open Access publishing for some of our broad-scope journals.
Inclusivity in Global Research policy established to improve transparency in reporting of global research and combat parachute science.
PLOS partners with Training Centre in Communication (TCC) in Kenya and establishes PLOS Gmbh in Germany, expanding PLOS’ global footprint.
2022
PLOS partners with DataSeer to develop Open Science Indicators, introducing standards for measuring and tracking Open Science behaviors across our journals.
PLOS partners with EarthRxiv to enable direct posting to the preprint server upon submission from select journals PLOS journals.
2023
PLOS establishes a new entity in Singapore as part of our efforts to incorporate the broadest range of researcher voices.
PLOS Complex Systems launches to bring together impactful research that facilitates understanding of complex systems in all disciplines.
PLOS Mental Health launches to address the challenges and gaps in the field of mental health research, treatment, and care in ways that put the lived experience of individuals and communities first.