Journal Information
Mission
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation will empower key decision makers to take immediate action for a more sustainable future that is based on catalytic research from a diversity of researchers and policy experts across disciplines, sectors, and geographies. We will work alongside researchers to shape Open Science practices to facilitate trust, transparency, and discoverability of research that has a lasting impact on the sustainability of our environment, our economy, and the societies around the world who depend on it.
Scope
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation is a multidisciplinary Open Access journal publishing leading, original research that drives critical progress toward a more sustainable future. Our journal will unite a diverse community of research and policy experts across natural and social sciences, technology and economics to cross-fertilize knowledge and tackle interconnected challenges from more inclusive perspectives. We work alongside researchers to make their impactful work openly available to all people who depend on it and to empower them to take critical action in the face of global sustainability challenges.
The journal will provide a forum for research that solves urgent challenges facing the sustainability of our global environment, economy, and societies around the world. We are especially interested in fields including agronomy, forestry, food and nutrition, terrestrial and marine ecology or ecosystems, microbiology, bio-based industries, circular bioeconomy, renewable energy, sustainable response to climate change, social sciences, and economics.
Contents
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation features engaging primary Research Articles, and Reviews, Opinions, and Editorials.
Criteria for Publication
To be considered for publication in PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, any given manuscript must satisfy the following criteria:
- Originality
- High importance and broad interest to the community of researchers, policy and decision makers working in fields that drive transformation towards sustainability of our renewable resources, economy, and society
- High methodological rigor and ethical standards
- Substantial evidence for its conclusions
- Follow appropriate standards and practice of open science
Scientists commonly refer to research as “scooped” when independent groups working on the same topic reach similar conclusions and one group publishes the results first. Although originality is one criterion for studies published in PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, “scooped” manuscripts that confirm, replicate, extend, or are complementary to a recently published, significant advance are still eligible for consideration in PLOS Sustainability and Transformation. The complementary manuscript must present equally or more rigorous findings than the published study and any submission must also meet the criteria for publication listed above. Authors of the complementary work have six months after the first article’s publication date to submit their manuscript to PLOS Sustainability and Transformation. Studies must be performed comprehensively, and preliminary placeholder studies will not be considered.
Editorial Oversight
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation is run by an international Editorial Board, headed by the Editor-in-Chief.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
View the PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Editorial Board.
Submit Your Manuscript
For more information about submitting to PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, read our guidelines for preparing a submission.
Publication Fees
PLOS employs several business models to support equitable Open Access. A full list of our publication fees, funding initiatives and fee assistance information is available here.
Open Access
PLOS applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to works we publish. Under this license, authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Anyone may copy, distribute, or reuse these articles, as long as the author and original source are properly cited. Learn more.
Journal Impact and Article Metrics
PLOS does not consider Impact Factor to be a reliable or useful metric to assess the performance of individual articles. PLOS supports DORA – the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment – and does not promote our journal Impact Factors. We will provide the metric to individuals when specifically requested.
PLOS promotes the use of Article-Level Metrics (ALMs), which enable scientists and the general public to engage more dynamically with published research. ALMs reflect the changing impact of research over time, incorporate academic as well as social impacts of research, and assess the impact of research before the accrual of academic citations. Read more about ALMs.
Indexing and Archiving
To ensure research is widely accessible and discoverable, PLOS submits all of our titles to major indexing services for evaluation as soon as possible according to the schedule of the specific service. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation began publishing its first articles in March 2022 and is currently indexed by the services listed below:
CABI CAB Abstracts, CABI Global Health, CAPES, Crossref, Dimensions, DOAJ, Google Scholar and Scopus.
We are continuing to work with services such as PubMed Central, Web of Science and MEDLINE and will update the list above as soon as the journal is indexed.
- See publishing details for all PLOS journal titles, including ISSN and indexing and archiving information.
PLOS
PLOS is a nonprofit, Open Access publisher empowering researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication.
Contact
Visit the Contact page for details about whom to contact with different queries.