Launch of First Free-Access Online Science Journal

The first scientific journal to provide free online results of scientific and medical research to the public was launched on October 13, 2003, with the first issue of PloS Biology by the Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA, USA).

The inaugural issue features peer-reviewed research articles on diverse topics authored by prominent scientists from around the world. All of the articles in the issue are freely available via the Internet to anyone anywhere to read, download, print, distribute, and reuse, so long as proper attribution of authorship is maintained.

The majority of existing journals restrict access to their current issues to individuals or institutions that have paid often high subscription or site-license fees. In contrast, PloS Biology will ask authors of articles to pay US$1,500 to cover the costs of carrying out peer-review, providing editorial oversight and managing production. In the majority of cases, these costs will be borne by the agencies and institutions that funded the research. All submissions are subjected to a rigorous peer-review and selection process, overseen by a team of leading scientists and professional staff at PloS. Only articles that make significant contributions to moving a field forward are published in the journal.

"Science thrives on the free flow of information,” said Dr. Patrick O. Brown of Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA, USA), a co-founder of PloS. "By removing restrictions on the sharing of knowledge—ensuring that anyone, anywhere can access the latest research findings—PloS Biology will speed the pace of scientific discovery.”




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