Publication Guide
PLOS (Public Library of Science) is the non-profit publisher that turned open access from an activist demand into a working business model. Founded in 2000 by Nobel laureate Harold Varmus, Patrick Brown, and Michael Eisen, it launched PLOS Biology in October 2003 and, three years later, PLOS ONE - the journal that invented the open-access megajournal and rigor-based (rather than novelty-based) peer review. Today PLOS publishes 14 fully open-access journals spanning the life sciences, medicine, computational biology, and global health, and every article carries a CC BY licence from the moment it appears.
Because there are no subscription titles, submitting to PLOS is a different decision from submitting to a mixed-model publisher: the questions are which journal fits your paper's scope and selectivity, what the fee will be, and whether your institution's PLOS agreement or a waiver covers it. This guide walks through all three.
Which PLOS journal fits your paper?
| You're most likely to... | Choose this route |
|---|---|
| Have methodologically sound research in any science or medicine discipline and want fast, rigor-based review | PLOS ONE - the original megajournal. Reviewers check that the science is rigorous, not whether it is fashionable; scope covers essentially all research disciplines. |
| Have a high-impact life-sciences result | PLOS Biology - the selective flagship, funded by Community Action Publishing rather than a conventional APC for members. |
| Have clinically or policy-relevant medical research | PLOS Medicine - the selective medical flagship, also on the Community Action Publishing model. |
| Work in genetics, pathogens, or computational biology | PLOS Genetics, PLOS Pathogens, or PLOS Computational Biology - established community journals (~$3,165 APC each). |
| Work on diseases of poverty or global health | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases or PLOS Global Public Health - strong waiver and equity support for LMIC authors. |
| Work in climate, water, digital health, mental health, or sustainability | The newer PLOS titles (PLOS Climate, PLOS Water, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Mental Health, PLOS Sustainability and Transformation) - run on the Global Equity model. |
What PLOS actually publishes
14 peer-reviewed, fully open-access journals (with further titles announced for launch from late 2025):
- PLOS ONE - the multidisciplinary megajournal, launched December 2006; one of the largest journals in the world by annual article volume.
- Flagships - PLOS Biology (2003) and PLOS Medicine (2004), the selective, high-impact titles.
- Community journals - PLOS Genetics, PLOS Pathogens, PLOS Computational Biology, and PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (the first journal devoted to diseases of poverty).
- Newer equity-model titles - PLOS Global Public Health, PLOS Climate, PLOS Water, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, PLOS Mental Health, and PLOS Complex Systems.
Subject coverage centers on the life sciences and medicine, with PLOS ONE extending across physical sciences, engineering, and social sciences.
Open access and fees - actual numbers
Every PLOS journal is Gold open access with a CC BY licence and immediate green self-archiving. Fees below are current published APCs (USD, per DOAJ records in 2026); PLOS revises prices periodically, so check the PLOS publication-fees page before submission.
| Journal | Fee | Model |
|---|---|---|
| PLOS ONE | ~$2,477 | APC (Flat Fee institutional accounts available) |
| PLOS Biology | ~$5,500 non-member fee | Community Action Publishing - $0 for authors at member institutions |
| PLOS Medicine | ~$6,460 non-member fee | Community Action Publishing - $0 for authors at member institutions |
| PLOS Genetics / Pathogens / Computational Biology | ~$3,165 | APC / institutional accounts |
| PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases | ~$2,670 | APC / institutional accounts |
| Newer titles (Climate, Water, Global Public Health, etc.) | $0 for member-institution authors | Global Equity model - non-member fees apply; broad waiver support |
Fee support: the PLOS Global Participation Initiative grants full fee waivers to authors in group-one (low-income) countries and substantial reductions in group-two countries, and PLOS states that ability to pay never influences editorial decisions. Because PLOS is already 100% OA, it signs institutional agreements (Flat Fee, Community Action Publishing, Global Equity) rather than transformative Read & Publish deals - ask your library whether your institution participates.
Peer review process
- Default model: single-anonymized peer review across the portfolio, with optional signed reviews.
- Published peer review: since 2019, authors can opt to publish the full peer-review history alongside the article.
- PLOS ONE criterion: technical rigor, not perceived importance - reviewers ask whether conclusions are supported by the data, leaving significance judgements to the community.
- Selectivity: PLOS Biology and PLOS Medicine remain highly selective, with in-house editors and academic editorial boards.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. Match scope and selectivity using the table above and each journal's aims page.
- Read the submission guidelines. Each PLOS journal publishes detailed, title-specific guidelines (formatting is deliberately light before acceptance).
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the PLOS Word or LaTeX template on SciSpace; references follow Vancouver numbered style.
- Submit via Editorial Manager. All PLOS journals use Editorial Manager for submission and review.
- Meet the data policy. PLOS requires a Data Availability Statement and expects underlying data to be deposited or shared, with limited exceptions.
Ethics and integrity
PLOS is a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM, and its journals follow COPE guidance on corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions. Its data-availability policy is among the strictest in publishing, competing interests must be declared by all authors, and PLOS ONE's scale has made PLOS a visible and generally fast-acting participant in large-scale research-integrity investigations (e.g., paper-mill screening and batch retractions).
