Elsevier
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Worth using if your institution's library pays and your field's top journals are Elsevier.
Comparison
Elsevier vs PLOS
Elsevier and PLOS both land on Depends.
PLOS
Depends
Confidence: Medium
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.
| Compare | Elsevier | PLOS |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | University libraries with big budgets | Funder-mandated open access |
| Who it's not for | Unfunded authors paying APCs personally | Researchers needing fast turnaround . delays recur |
| Privacy | No public CVEs found, but third-party reports flag a domain hijack and leaked credentials.⁶ | One past data-breach notification on record; current scans report no threats; no dedicated security page found. |
| Support quality | Trustpilot 1.8, 'Poor' | Recurring complaints of long review delays |
| Public sentiment | Acadics vent about fees, unpaid reviewing, and clunky tools; Trustpilot sits at 1.8 'Poor'.¹ | Researchers on Reddit and ResearchGate repeatedly complain about long PLOS ONE review wait times, while accepting it as a reputable open-access fallback.14 |
| Biggest gotcha | APCs are set per journal; check the exact fee before submitting anything⁴ | Published APC figures conflict: $1,931 vs $2,477 . verify the current fee before submitting12 |
Pick Elsevier when
- University libraries with big budgets
- Researchers targeting top-tier journals
- Clinicians needing decision support
- Institutions with read-publish agreements
When Elsevier is not a fit
- Unfunded authors paying APCs personally
- Reviewers expecting payment
- Open-access-only labs
- Small teams wanting a cheap literature tool
Pick PLOS when
- Funder-mandated open access
- Sound-but-unglamorous findings
- Interdisciplinary work
- Authors with APC funding or waivers
When PLOS is not a fit
- Researchers needing fast turnaround . delays recur
- Authors chasing prestige for hiring or grants
- Unfunded authors facing the ~$2,477 APC
- Anyone shopping for software . this is a publisher
Sources
- Trustpilot reviews of elsevier.comtrustpilot.comreview
review
- Journal pricing policyelsevier.comofficial
- Open access agreementselsevier.comofficial
- Elsevier LAPSUS$ domain hijack (CloudSkope)cloudskope.comsecurity
- Elsevier stealer-log credentials (Hudson Rock)hudsonrock.comsecurity
- ClinicalKey AI expansion (DrFirst blog)iprescribe.comnews
- PLOS fees and fundingplos.orgofficial
- PLOS ONE Journal Informationjournals.plos.orgofficial
- PLOS ONE APC (2026) fee guidemanusights.comreview
- PLOS ONE Journal Guide 2026manusights.comreview
- New PLOS pricing test (Science)science.orgnews
- PLOS ONE wait time (Reddit)reddit.comreview
- Peer-review delay complaints (ResearchGate)researchgate.netreview
- PLOS ONE vs Scientific Reports (Reddit)reddit.comreview