PLoS

PLoS (Public Library of Science) is a nonprofit open access scientific publishing project aimed at creating a library of open access journals and other scientific literature under an open content license. It launched its first journal, PLoS Biology, in October 2003 and publishes seven journals, as of October 2015.

History

The Public Library of Science began in early 2000 by biomedical scientists Harold Varmus, Patrick O. Brown, and Michael Eisen. It was a petition to scientific publishers to make their journal content freely available within months of publication. Despite collecting more than 30,000 signatures, the majority of publishers did not change their practices, leading to the foundation of PLoS.

Journals

PLoS publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals. They are:

• PLoS Biology
• PLoS Medicine
• PLoS Computational Biology
• PLoS Genetics
• PLoS Pathogens
• PLoS ONE
• PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Open Access

PLoS journals are open access, meaning that all content is freely available immediately upon publication. It is funded by article processing charges paid by authors.

Criticism and Controversy

PLoS has been criticized for its business model, particularly the high publication charges. It has also been subject to controversy due to its impact on traditional subscription-based journals.

See Also

• Open Access
• Scientific Publishing
• Biomedical Sciences

References

PLoS Resources
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