Other Article Types
Collection Overviews
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases considers Collection Overview articles within pre-planned Collections. Collection Overviews discuss the relevant history and scientific background of a Collection, and unlike Collection Reviews, they are not intended as an exhaustive summary of a particular topic, but rather aim to place the articles included in the Collection within the context of knowledge in the field.
Collection Overviews should be concise, with suitable referencing, and provide the appropriate context for the publications in the Collection.
Collection Overviews will be considered subject to prior approval by journal editors, or they may be commissioned by staff editors from the Guest Editor(s) of a Collection. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases staff editors do not consider unsolicited Collection Overviews.
In addition to publishing original research papers, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases has an engaging magazine section with dedicated editors. Articles in the magazine section will mostly be commissioned, but we welcome your ideas for articles.
Word counts for magazine-section articles are given in the descriptions below. Very long documents can be hosted as supplementary files (Supporting Information) with the magazine-section articles.
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases is no longer accepting presubmission inquiries, either through the submission system or over email. Please visit our Scope page to help inform your decision to submit, and if you aren’t sure, submit the full manuscript to the journal.
We cannot publish any data that would identify a patient unless we have the patient’s written consent. Download the consent form (also available in Chinese, French, Portuguese, and Spanish).
All display items in magazine articles will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Read more about our content license.
For more information about preparing display items, read the guidelines for figures and tables.
Editorial
These 600- to 800-word articles are written in-house by the Editor-in-Chief or a member of the Editorial Board.
Viewpoints
Viewpoints are opinion pieces grounded in evidence. The word limit is 1,500 words. Authors are encouraged to cite up to 15 references in support of their key assertions, and to use a logical structure for their piece. We encourage all authors to include a display item (a figure, photo, or illustration).
Formal Comment
Formal Comments allow authors to comment on a specific scientific study, including those published in PLOS NTDs. The journal welcomes healthy debate and discussion between scientists, therefore authors are allowed to write a Formal Comment in response to another author referencing their work. However, these exchanges are intended to be contained in a few total submissions, and to advance understanding of the topic. The Formal Comment should not be inflammatory or disrespectful in nature or tone.
The word limit is 1,500 words. Authors are encouraged to cite up to 15 references in support of their key assertions.
Policy Platform
These articles provide a platform to discuss specific policies that could improve the lives of those at risk of, or affected by, the NTDs. New and specific policy proposals that arise from high-level national or international meetings will be considered for this section, but we will not publish traditional “meeting reports.” These articles are usually 2,000 words, with up to 25 references. In very exceptional circumstances (i.e., when the article is of particular public-health importance), we will give authors a higher word limit, but this must be negotiated with the editors ahead of writing the article. We encourage all authors to include 3-5 display items (figures, photos, illustrations).
Review
Review articles include a short abstract and a brief “Methods” section that tells readers how you searched and appraised the literature in preparing the review. The word limit is 3,000-5,000 words, with 50-80 references. Word count should not exceed 5,000 words except in very exceptional circumstances (i.e., when the article is of particular public-health importance). Authors must include two boxes:
- A box that lists the 3-5 key learning points in their review
- A box that lists the 5 key papers in the field
We encourage all authors to include 3-5 display items (figures, tables, photos, or illustrations).
Key Learning Points
Authors must include a box that lists 3-5 key learning points of the case, similar to other clinical sections of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
References
No more than 10 references.
Post-Publication Notices
PLOS publishes Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retraction notices, as needed, to address issues that arise after a PLOS article has been published.