Committed to making the world’s

scientific and medical literature

a public resource

Mark Patterson, Director of Publishing

OASPA Webinar: Oct 20, 2009

• PLoS background• Open-Access publishing at PLoS• Future perspectives

Outline

PLoS Founded October, 2000

Harold VarmusPLoS Co-founder and Chairman of the BoardPresident and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Patrick O. BrownPLoS Co-founder and Board MemberHoward Hughes Medical Institute & Stanford University School of Medicine

Michael B. EisenPLoS Co-founder and Board MemberLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory & University of California at Berkeley

• Largest non-profit, open-access publisher

• Based in San Francisco and Cambridge, UK (~80 staff)

• Publish seven journals• Use publication fee business model

PLoS in 2009

PLoS BiologyOctober, 2003

• Professional editors• Highly selective• $2900 publication fee

PLoS MedicineOctober, 2004

PLoS Community Journals

June-September, 2005 October, 2007

• Community-run, by leading researchers

• Focus on specific topic• Scalable financial model

($2250 publication fee)

PLoS ONEDecember, 2006

• Peer review judges scientific rigour– peer reviewers do not ask how important the

work is

• Assessment after publication– article-level metrics

• Inclusive scope– all science and medicine

• Cost-effective– $1350 publication fee covers all costs

PLoS Progress Report, June 2009

PLoS Progress Report, June 2009

• Open source publishing platform– addition of web2.0 features

• Article-level metrics– improved research assessment

• New publication channels– PLoS Currents Influenza (www.ploscurrents.org)

Innovation at PLoS

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• Build on success of publication fee model– Funders and Institutions are getting involved

• Most OA journals are new– face the challenges of any new journal

• Transition from subscription-based publishing to OA– more success stories needed

• New approaches for scholarly communication– PLoS ONE, PLoS Currents

Challenges and opportunities for OA publishing