PUBLIC LIBRARY OF SCIENCE

SCIENCE AND MEDICAL PUBLISHING ARE THE CORE OF PLOS PROGRAM EXPENSE AT OVER $28.5 MILLION. THE ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN OUR PUBLISHING OPERATION INCLUDE:EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION WORK - RECEIPT AND TRIAGE OF SUBMISSIONS; PERFORMING/COORDINATING THEIR PEER REVIEW; AND PRODUCTION AND ONLINE PUBLICATION OF ACCEPTED ARTICLES. MARKETING AND OUTREACH - PROMOTING ARTICLES AND INVITING SUBMISSIONS, INCREASING AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF OPEN SCIENCE BENEFITS AND PRACTICES, PROMOTING INITIATIVES SUCH AS CALLS FOR PAPERS, AND CREATING RESOURCES FOR AUTHORS AND REVIEWERS.PUBLISHING ETHICS HANDLING ETHICAL AND SCIENTIFIC (CONT. ON SCH. O)CONCERNS INVOLVING SUBMISSIONS AND PUBLISHED ARTICLES.ENGAGEMENT WITH RESEARCH COMMUNITIES (E.G. BY ATTENDING/ORGANIZING CONFERENCES/EVENTS/WORKSHOPS) - TO ENSURE THE JOURNALS AND THEIR POLICIES REFLECT THE RESEARCH INTERESTS AND VALUES OF THESE FIELDS AND COMMUNITIES.MEDIA - COLLABORATING WITH AUTHORS, INSTITUTIONS, SCIENCE MEDIA CENTERS AND JOURNALISTS TO COMMUNICATE RESEARCH TO BOTH SCIENTISTS AND SOCIETY.THE SCOPE OF PLOS JOURNALS PUBLISHING IN 2023 INCLUDES:PLOS ONE, THE FIRST MULTIDISCIPLINARY OA JOURNAL PUBLISHING ALL TECHNICALLY VALID AND ETHICAL RESEARCH, REGARDLESS OF ANTICIPATED IMPACT.PLOS BIOLOGY, PUBLISHING ARTICLES OF EXCEPTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE, ORIGINALITY AND RELEVANCE IN ALL AREAS OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE, FROM MOLECULES TO ECOSYSTEMS TO DATA-DRIVEN META-RESEARCH.PLOS CLIMATE, PUBLISHING RESEARCH THAT ADDRESSES THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND DYNAMICS.PLOS DIGITAL HEALTH, PUBLISHING RESEARCH THAT ADVANCES HEALTHCARE THROUGH DIGITAL TOOLS, TECHNOLOGIES, AND DATA SCIENCE.PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH, A NEW HOME FOR DIVERSE RESEARCH ADDRESSING GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES AND INEQUITIESPLOS MEDICINE, PUBLISHING LEADING RESEARCH IN ALL AREAS OF MEDICAL SCIENCE, CLINICAL PRACTICE AND HEALTH POLICY INCLUDING A VARIETY OF STUDY DESIGNS.PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY, PUBLISHING WORK THAT FURTHERS THE UNDERSTANDING OF LIVING SYSTEMS AT ALL SCALES THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF COMPUTATIONAL METHODS.PLOS GENETICS, FOCUSED ON ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN GENETICS AND GENOMICS THAT REFLECT THE FULL BREADTH, INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE AND IMPACT OF THESE FIELDS ON SCIENCE AND MEDICINE.PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES, THE FIRST JOURNAL SOLELY DEVOTED TO CHRONIC AND POVERTY-PROMOTING INFECTIOUS DISEASES, PUBLISHES RESEARCH ON ALL ASPECTS OF NTDS. PLOS PATHOGENS, FIRST OA JOURNAL FOR BREAKTHROUGHS IN UNDERSTANDING PATHOGENS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH HOST ORGANISMS. PLOS SUSTAINABILITY AND TRANSFORMATION, PUBLISHING LEADING RESEARCH THAT DRIVES PROGRESS TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR RENEWABLE RESOURCES, ECONOMY, AND SOCIETY.PLOS WATER, A NEW HOME FOR ALL RESEARCH RELATED TO WATER AS A VITAL RESOURCE FOR PEOPLE AND THE PLANET.NEW JOURNALS OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS IN 2023 INCLUDE:PLOS COMPLEX SYSTEMS BRINGING TOGETHER IMPACTFUL RESEARCH THAT FACILITATES UNDERSTANDING OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS IN ALL DISCIPLINES.PLOS MENTAL HEALTH AN INCLUSIVE JOURNAL THAT AIMS TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES AND GAPS IN THE FIELD OF MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH, TREATMENT, AND CARE IN WAYS THAT PUT THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF INDIVIDUALS FIRST.IN ADDITION TO MANAGING THE ABOVE PORTFOLIO OF JOURNALS, IN 2023 PLOS CONTINUED ITS FOCUS ON THREE BROAD AREAS: (1) OPEN SCIENCE PRACTICES AND INITIATIVES AROUND TRANSPARENCY, RECOGNITION, RESEARCH INTEGRITY, AND REPRODUCIBILITY; (2) DEVELOPING MORE EQUITABLE BUSINESS MODELS TO ENABLE A DIVERSE AND SUSTAINABLE PUBLISHING ECOSYSTEM AND (3) EXPANDING OUR CAPACITY TO LEARN FROM AND SERVE DIVERSE RESEARCH COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE GLOBE IN ORDER TO CO-CREATE SOLUTIONS FOR A MORE OPEN, EFFECTIVE, AND FAIR RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM. THE FOLLOWING ARE KEY HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR WORK IN 2023:WE LAUNCHED TWO NEW JOURNALS, PLOS COMPLEX SYSTEMS AND PLOS MENTAL HEALTH, TO ENGAGE WITH AND GROW NEW COMMUNITIES OF OPEN SCIENCE PRACTICE IN WAYS THAT PROMOTE MULTI-DISCIPLINARY DISCUSSION AND EXCHANGE OF KNOWLEDGE.ACROSS OUR PORTFOLIO WE SAW NEARLY 20% GROWTH IN SUBMISSIONS AS WE CONTINUED TO DEVELOP COMMUNITIES ACROSS ALL DISCIPLINES AND REGIONS OF THE WORLD. WE CONTINUED TO DEVELOP OPEN SCIENCE INDICATORS, INTRODUCING A NEW INDICATOR TO MEASURE DETAILED RESEARCH METHODS (PROTOCOL) SHARING AND WORKING WITH MEMBERS OF THE SCHOLARLY COMMUNITY TO EXPAND THE USAGE OF OSIS IN UNDERSTANDING INSTITUTIONAL OPEN SCIENCE TRENDS; EXPLORING MARKERS OF RESEARCH INTEGRITY, AND TO BENCHMARKING NEW TOOLS FOR MONITORING OPEN SCIENCE. WE ESTABLISHED A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER WORKING GROUP ALONG WITH JISC AND COALITION S FOCUSED ON MOVING AWAY FROM APCS AND IDENTIFYING EQUITABLE ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR OPEN ACCESS C. WE ALSO CONTINUED EXPANDING THE GROWTH OF OUR COMMUNITY ACTION PUBLISHING, GLOBAL EQUITY AND FLAT FEE MODELS WHICH REDUCE THE FINANCIAL BURDEN FOR AUTHORS PUBLSIHING IN OUR JOURNALS.WE CONTINUED OUR WORK TO ADVANCE ADOPTION OF OPEN SCIENCE PRACTICES AS WELL AS REFINE AND DEVELOP NEW SERVICES FOR AUTHORS. WE PUBLISHED THE FIRST ARTICLES WITH ASSOCIATED PREPRINTS SUBMITTED THROUGH OUR INTEGRATION WITH EARTHRXIV. WE SHARED THE RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS SUPPORTED BY THE WELLCOME TRUST, TO IMPROVE DATA SHARING AND REUSE PRACTICES. BASED ON OUR LEARNINGS, WE EXTENDED THE TRIAL OF OUR ACCCESSIBLE DATA ICON TO PROMOTE THE VISIBILITY OF DATA AND CODE LINKED TO PLOS ARTICLES. PLOS CONTINUED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PLAN S PRICE & SERVICE TRANSPARENCY FRAMEWORK, PUBLICLY REPORTING OUR PRICING BREAKDOWN ON OUR BLOG.PLOS CONTINUED OUR PUBLICATION FEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS, DESIGNED TO OVERCOME BARRIERS TO IMMEDIATE AVAILABILITY, ACCESS AND USE OF RESEARCH. IN 2023 PLOS PROVIDED $4.4 MILLION IN PARTIAL OR FULL ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGE (APC) WAIVERS TO AUTHORS. THIS MAJOR PROGRAM EXPENSE, WHICH APPEARS AS A CONTRA-REVENUE FOR FINANCIAL REPORTING PURPOSES, DEMONSTRATES OUR SUPPORT TO SCIENCE AND THE GLOBAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY.