When you choose to publish with PLOS, your research makes an impact. Make your work accessible to all, without restrictions, and accelerate scientific discovery with options like preprints and published peer review that make your work more Open.

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Open Science

When it comes to scientific rigor and editorial integrity, we will not compromise. The research outputs we publish promote multi-disciplinary discussions on complex problems and enable all stakeholders to learn from, reuse, and build upon scientific knowledge. We reimagine models and mechanisms for sharing to meet open science principles and use our journals to test and refine innovations at all stages of the research lifecycle.

What is Open Science?

Open science is about sharing research outputs and processes from across all stages of the research investigation; facilitating greater reproducibility, faster scientific progress, and broader access to knowledge. From methods to data, open science encourages researchers to make these valuable artifacts accessible to all.

Emphasizing the importance of community collaboration and discussion, open science encourages the sharing of preprints, peer reviews and post-publication commentary and open access licensing ensures that these components, along with the research article itself, are freely available to readers worldwide.

Open science benefits

Open science enables effortless knowledge sharing, clearer visibility, and quicker innovation. Our tools make it easy to apply these benefits at every stage of the publication process.

Share your research without restrictions

We publish all research articles and artifacts under a CC-BY open access license, meaning your research can be shared with anyone, anywhere, to inform, inspire, and engage others in your work. That means you can showcase your results sooner, meet funding deadlines and increase the reach of your research.

Demonstrate accountability and research integrity

Giving others insight into the research process and the evaluation of your manuscript demonstrates the rigor of your work and ensures a fair assessment. Sharing the foundational components of your research also improves reproducibility and reduces opportunities for bias.

Maximize your contribution to science

Sharing more of your research at all stages of the research process ensures that everything you produce becomes part of the permanent scientific record. When you share study designs, methods, protocols, and data, readers can apply your findings in different contexts, accelerating research progress.

Increase your influence within your academic community and beyond

Make your research freely available and easily discoverable, enabling every researcher, policymaker, or educator to learn from it. Create your opportunities for collaboration and influence.

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