shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use PLOS?

Nonprofit open-access scholarly publisher — you're deciding whether to publish your paper here, not whether to buy software. - plos.org

Depends. Good fit if your funder mandates open access, your work is sound-but-not-flashy, and you or your library can cover the ~$2,477 APC. Wrong fit if you need fast decisions, prestige signals, or can't absorb the fee.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources: official PLOS pages, fee guides, Reddit/ResearchGate threads, and security scan reports.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of useNo usable evidence on submission experience
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

~$2,477/article (2026)

PLOS ONE APC

ModelNonprofit
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierNo
Institutional Flat FeeCustom annual rate

Best for

  • Funder-mandated open access
  • Sound-but-unglamorous findings
  • Interdisciplinary work
  • Authors with APC funding or waivers

Not for

  • Researchers needing fast turnaround — delays recur
  • Authors chasing prestige for hiring or grants
  • Unfunded authors facing the ~$2,477 APC
  • Anyone shopping for software — this is a publisher

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Published APC figures conflict: $1,931 vs $2,477 — verify the current fee before submitting

medium

Pricing model is in flux; flat-fee experiment may end author-pays APCs

medium

Review wait times are a recurring community complaint; plan timelines accordingly

low

returns no security page found

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Nonprofit open access: articles free for anyone to read
  • PLOS ONE judges rigor and soundness, not novelty or impact
  • Fee waivers and institutional flat-fee deals cut author costs
  • Mandatory data and code sharing policies aid reproducibility
  • Current security scans report no threats on

Cons

  • Peer-review delays repeatedly flagged as unreasonably long
  • $2,477 APC is steep without institutional backing
  • Weak prestige signal versus field-specific journals
  • Past data-breach notification exists for PLOS

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/21/2026 - 11 sources - One past data-breach notification on record; current scans report no threats; no dedicated security page found.

official x3review x5security x2news x1
  • Data breach notification, A breach notification listing PLOS as data controller is on public record; details are sparse.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • ~$2,477/article (2026)

    Starting price

  • 11

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. $2,477 APC at a soundness-only mega-journal
  • Ease of use. No usable evidence on submission experience
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Broad journal portfolio plus research communities
  • Support quality: 2/5. Recurring complaints of long review delays
  • Security posture: 3/5. Breach notification on record; recent scans clean
  • $2,477 PLOS ONE APC 2026 article processing charge
  • Nonprofit Publishing model Open access, articles free to read
  • No Free to publish Fee waivers available on request
  • Flat Fee Institutional option Libraries pay annually, authors publish free

Pricing

PLOS ONE APC

~$2,477/article (2026)

  • Open access upon publication
  • Fee waivers if you cannot pay

Institutional Flat Fee

Not disclosed

  • Library pays once
  • Authors publish without APCs

Security

One past data-breach notification on record; current scans report no threats; no dedicated security page found.

  • Data breach notificationA breach notification listing PLOS as data controller is on public record; details are sparse.⁹

What users say

Researchers on Reddit and ResearchGate repeatedly complain about long PLOS ONE review wait times, while accepting it as a reputable open-access fallback.

Alternatives

Compare PLOS with each alternative.

  • Field-specific society journals

    Better prestige and fit for specialty work than a mega-journal.

Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources: official PLOS pages, fee guides, Reddit/ResearchGate threads, and security scan reports.

Legit nonprofit OA publisher for sound science — but expect slow reviews, a ~$2,477 APC, and little prestige signal.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources: official PLOS pages, fee guides, Reddit/ResearchGate threads, and security scan reports.

Sources

  1. PLOS fees and fundingplos.org
    official
  2. PLOS ONE Journal Informationjournals.plos.org
    official
  3. PLOS ONE APC (2026) fee guidemanusights.com
    review
  4. PLOS ONE Journal Guide 2026manusights.com
    review
  5. New PLOS pricing test (Science)science.org
    news
  6. PLOS ONE wait time (Reddit)reddit.com
    review
  7. Peer-review delay complaints (ResearchGate)researchgate.net
    review
  8. PLOS ONE vs Scientific Reports (Reddit)reddit.com
    review
  9. PLOS data breach notificationcyberartspro.com
    security
  10. plos.org security scan (PCrisk)scanner.pcrisk.com
    security
  11. PLOS — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    official

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