Ready to submit your research to PLOS?
Whichever PLOS journal you choose, publishing with PLOS provides more visibility, context, and credit for your work. You choose how you open your science for even more opportunities.
PLOS publishes a suite of influential Open Access journals across all areas of science and medicine. Rigorously reported, peer reviewed and immediately available without restrictions, promoting the widest readership and impact possible. We encourage you to consider the scope of each journal before submission, as journals are editorially independent and specialized in their publication criteria and breadth of content.
PLOS Biology
PLOS Biology publishes articles of exceptional significance, originality and relevance in all areas of biological science, from molecules to ecosystems, including work at the interface of other disciplines such as chemistry, medicine and mathematics. The journal also publishes data-driven meta-research that evaluates and aims to improve the standards of research in the life sciences and beyond.
PLOS Climate
PLOS Climate unites researchers across disciplines and regions of the world to tackle the causes and effects of climate change and dynamics at a global scale. Our goal is to empower global collaboration–between researchers and organizations, individuals and policymakers–that is centered around research of the highest methodological and ethical standards and the values of Open Science.
PLOS Complex Systems
PLOS Complex Systems publishes research of broad significance that untangles the complex systems at the heart of the world we live in. We connect impactful research that transcends disciplines: from computer scientists to climate scientists, mathematicians to anthropologists, and for all those who solve problems through a lens of complex relationships and models that track, measure, and predict outcomes.
PLOS Computational Biology
PLOS Computational Biology publishes works of significance that further the understanding of living systems at all scales–from molecules and cells to patient populations and ecosystems–through the application of computational methods. The journal provides a forum for important biological research driven by computation.
PLOS Digital Health
PLOS Digital Health publishes boundary-breaking research that uses digital tools, technologies, and data science to advance every aspect of health care. Open Science options at every stage of research communication empower researchers to drive trust, collaboration and reproducibility in this field.
PLOS Genetics
PLOS Genetics publishes original contributions in genetics and genomics that reflect the full breadth, interdisciplinary nature and impact of these fields on science and medicine. The journal publishes human studies as well as research on model organisms – from mice and flies to plants and bacteria – with an emphasis on studies of broad interest to the genetics community that provide significant insight into biological processes.
PLOS Global Public Health
PLOS Global Public Health is a global forum for public health research of the highest ethical and methodological rigor that reaches across disciplines and regional boundaries to address some of the biggest health challenges and inequities facing our society today.
PLOS Medicine
PLOS Medicine publishes articles on biomedical, environmental, social and political determinants of human health worldwide. The journal accepts a variety of study designs including clinical trials, observational studies, diagnostic and prognostic tools, epidemiology, predictive and explanatory modeling, qualitative studies and clinically oriented translational research.
PLOS Mental Health
PLOS Mental Health is an inclusive journal addressing 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. Our journal connects researchers and practitioners from across the clinical psychology, counseling psychology, psychiatric, mental health, behavioral medicine, and social science communities.
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the first journal solely devoted to chronic and poverty-promoting infectious diseases affecting the world’s poorest populations, publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research on all scientific, medical, political and public health aspects of NTDs. Commentary on wide ranging topics – from policy discussion to clinical education and topical debates – keep readers current on the implications of research discoveries.
PLOS ONE
PLOS ONE ensures the highest standards of quality and openness for the content it publishes and boosts speed to publication by eliminating subjective assessments of significance or scope to focus on technical, ethical and scientific rigor. The journal publishes original research in all scientific disciplines, including interdisciplinary research, negative results and replication studies—all vital parts of the scientific record.
PLOS Pathogens
PLOS Pathogens is the first Open Access journal for breakthroughs in understanding pathogens and their interactions with host organisms. The journal publishes original research and commentary that yield novel insights into pathogenesis that are of broad interest and importance to researchers studying pathogens and pathogen-host interactions.
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation is a multidisciplinary forum for researchers to exchange knowledge and share leading research that drives critical progress in optimizing the use of renewable resources, transforming the global economy and achieving a sustainable future.
PLOS Water
PLOS Water brings together research of the highest methodological and ethical standards in the areas of water sanitation, resource recovery and use, applied water policy, and the sustainable consumption, management and supply of water as a vital resource for societies in every region of the world.
Can’t wait to share your science? Post a preprint!
Authors submitting to participating PLOS journals* can choose to effortlessly post their manuscript on bioRxiv, the preprint server for the life sciences.
*Available for PLOS ONE, PLOS Biology, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Pathogens, PLOS Computational Biology and PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
1. Establishing precedence
Preprints receive a DOI and provide a timestamp for ideas, results, methods, so you start accruing citations, even before your work gets published.
2. The latest science
Since preprints are posted within days of opting-in, there’s minimal wait from discovery to dissemination.
3. Support for preprints from many sides
Funding agencies, publishers, universities and fellow scientists are encouraging the use of preprints.
Not quite ready to submit your manuscript for publication? Aren’t sure what the process is?
Now is the best time to review journal scope and policy.
1. Choose the best journal for your work
PLOS journals are editorially independent and vary in their criteria for publication. PLOS encourages authors to consider carefully each journal’s scope before submitting a manuscript.
2. Review journal publishing policies and the Open Access license agreement
PLOS encourages authors to review the core Editorial and Publishing Policies as well as any journal-specific policies. The Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license applies to all works PLOS publishes. Read more about the license under Publish → Policies → Content License available on each journal homepage.
3. Prepare your manuscript according to journal guidelines
Authors should ensure their manuscript is ready for submission by adhering to all relevant style and formatting guidelines, available under Publish → Submissions → Submissions Guidelines for each journal.
4. Submit your work, together with additional requested information
From the selected journal’s website, follow Publish → Submissions → Submit Now to be directed to the online submission system for that particular PLOS journal. As a new user, click “Register Now” to create an account. It’s that simple.