Editorial and Peer Review Process

Checking the status of your manuscript
The corresponding author can check the status of a submitted manuscript at anytime in our submission system.

We’re committed to helping authors develop and share their best work. In a unique editorial model, PLOS Biology Staff Editors work with Academic Editors, who are leading scientists in all fields of biology, to ensure expert, efficient, and objective review for all authors. 

PLOS Biology Staff Editors help guide your manuscript through the submission process from start to finish. They facilitate external review and evaluate reviewer input, together with Academic Editors, to make the most objective decision.

This is what our process looks like:

Our submission process is designed to save researchers time so they can focus on their science. With format-free initial submission, authors need only upload a PDF of their manuscript, cover letter and supporting information. Submission takes less than 10 minutes. One of our Staff Editors will evaluate the work and provide an initial decision in about a week*. Additional submission information is required only if the work is sent for peer review and specific formatting is not necessary until the manuscript is close to acceptance. Please note that submission through our online system asks for confirmation that the work is not under consideration elsewhere and presubmission enquiries should not be sent through this route.

All submissions to PLOS Biology are handled by our in-house team of Staff Editors from start to finish.
Staff Editors will evaluate the initial submission to decide if it has the potential to be suitable for PLOS Biology. If manuscripts are potentially suitable for external review, they can send them for peer-review directly or consult with one of our Academic Editors, who are working scientists with leading expertise in the field.

Initial Submission

Staff Editors assess new submissions for their suitability in the context of the publishing mission of PLOS Biology: to publish exceptional research and meta-research across all areas of the life sciences. Our initial editorial assessment includes not only the results reported, but also emphasizes the originality and significance of the research question being asked, the approach undertaken and the quality of execution. 

Academic Editor Consultation

The Staff Editors may seek advice from an external Academic Editor to help determine whether the manuscript has the potential to meet the requirement of providing a major advance in its field, and describing a sufficient body of work to support the main claims.

Portable peer-review

PLOS Biology is open to considering manuscripts on the basis of reviews received at journals from other publishers. If the work meets editorial criteria for further consideration, the editors would contact the previous journal to confirm the previous history, share the reviews and, if possible, original reviewer identities. Staff editors work with Academic Editors to arbitrate these reports directly, avoiding or minimizing further peer-review and thereby streamlining the process.

Full Submission

If the initial assessment suggests a study has the potential for publication, the authors are invited to return a full submission with accompanying metadata and co-author details before peer review begins. Journal staff perform additional checks at this stage to ensure all required information is included. Submissions may be returned to authors for changes or clarifications; some of the things we look for include:

• Declaration of competing interests
• Compliance with editorial policies and ethical standards
• Financial disclosures
• Presence of a data availability statement

To find the best reviewers for a particular manuscript, Staff Editors consider expertise, reputation, specific recommendations of authors and Academic Editors, and their own knowledge of a reviewer's performance.
After agreeing to review, external peer reviewers typically have 14 days to submit their comments. We’ll follow up with late reviewers and keep you informed if there are any delays.

Once a full set of reviewer reports has been received, we will circulate it anonymously among the reviewer panel to give them the chance to see and comment on each other's reports before a decision is made. We will give reviewers 2 working days to comment, so as not to delay the decision-making process.

PLOS Biology uses single blind peer review by default. Reviewers remain anonymous unless they choose to identify themselves by signing their name to their review in our submission system.

Once all reviews of a manuscript have been received, Staff Editors consult with the Academic Editor to evaluate the feedback in line with PLOS Biology’s publication criteria before rendering one of the following decisions:

Reject 

The manuscript does not meet—or does not have the potential after major revision to meet—the criteria outlined above of originality, importance to the field, or sound methodology.

Open reject

The manuscript is not suitable for PLOS Biology in its current state and a large amount of experimentation would be required, but the study remains potentially suitable and the authors are encouraged to submit a new version if they are interested in pursuing after extensive revision.

Revise prior to final decision

Authors are invited to revise the manuscript, including new experimentation, and resubmit the work before receiving a final decision. Read the guidelines for revised manuscripts.

Request minor revisions 

Only minor textual and formatting revisions are required (either after the first round of review or after revision).

Accept 

If no further edits are required from the authors and the study complies with our formatting and reporting requirements. 

If your manuscript has been accepted, read about what to expect and how you can expedite the publication process. Your work can have the most impact if you share it with a wider audience. Take advantage of these tips to help promote your work. 

PLOS Biology offers authors the flexibility to choose the best way to represent their science. Our different article types follow the process of scientific enquiry to provide opportunities for sharing and contextualizing your work as it progresses -- while receiving credit for each piece.

Preprints

PLOS Biology encourages researchers to share early versions of their manuscripts via preprint servers, either before or after submission. Posting to a preprint server will not preclude consideration of your manuscript. Through our partnership with bioRxiv, you can submit directly to PLOS Biology through this preprint server, or opt-in to have us post your submission as a preprint on your behalf. Read more about preprints.

Preregistration

To increase transparency, thoroughness, and public trust in science, PLOS Biology now offers Preregistered Research Articles, which enable authors to receive peer review feedback on their study design prior to conducting the experiments. 
Read more about Preregistered Research Articles.

Linked Articles 

Discovery Reports and Update Articles enable authors to publish exciting early results and subsequent updates as their work progresses. Related works are linked to facilitate easier discovery.

PLOS offers accepted authors the opportunity to publish the peer review history of their manuscript alongside the final article. The peer review history package includes the complete editorial decision letter with peer reviews, and the authors’ response to reviewers for each revision of the manuscript. If the peer reviewers have chosen to sign their reviews, their names will also appear.

Sharing the peer review history of your manuscript enriches the scientific record, increases transparency and accountability, and helps to reinforce the validity of your research by displaying the thoroughness of the peer review process it has undergone.

The journal reserves the right not to publish peer review history in special cases, for example, if the tone or language used is inappropriate or defamatory, or due to an ethical consideration, such as the inclusion of information about a vulnerable population.

Authors can request that submissions (with referee reports, if relevant) rejected from one PLOS journal be transferred to another PLOS journal for further consideration there. Manuscripts will never be transferred between the journals without an author’s consent.

We trust that reviewers for any PLOS journal are willing to have their reviews considered by the editors of another PLOS journal.

In addition, PLOS Biology has partnered with the Neuroscience Peer Review Consortium to help ensure that the time and expertise that reviewers devote to assessing a manuscript is not lost if authors decide to submit to another journal. As such, PLOS Biology may transmit reviews to other NPRC journals at the request of the authors. We will contact individual reviewers for permission to transmit their names to the recipient journal and will otherwise transmit the reports anonymously.

Beyond the Neuroscience Peer Review consortium, PLOS Biology will transmit reviews to other journals at the request of the authors. We will contact individual reviewers for permission to transmit their names to the recipient journal and will otherwise transmit the reports anonymously.

To request an appeal, please email the journal and provide the reasons for your request. We will respond promptly and ask you to provide a formal appeal letter for the editorial team to consider.

Appeals will only be considered when a reviewer or editor is thought to have made a significant factual error or when his/her objectivity is compromised by a documented competing interest, and when a reversal based on either of these grounds would change the original decision.

All appeals will be discussed with at least one other Staff Editor; and an Academic Editor, if needed. Consideration of appeals may take up to 2 weeks. Priority is given to new submissions to the journal, and the processing of appeals will usually take longer than the original submission. While under appeal, a manuscript remains under formal consideration at PLOS Biology and should not be submitted for consideration elsewhere. Decisions on appeals are final without exception.