Publication Fees

PLOS articles are Open Access: they are immediately available online at no cost to read, distribute and/or reuse. To support Open Access publishing, PLOS charges a publication fee to offset peer review management, journal production and online hosting and archiving.

Publication fees vary by journal and are payable for articles upon acceptance.

Payment is due when PLOS accepts the article for publication.

The person who submits the manuscript is responsible for the publication fee payment.

Yes. PLOS believes that lack of funds should not be a barrier to Open Access publication. Since its inception, PLOS has provided individual fee support to authors and today offers two programs:

i. PLOS Global Participation Initiative (Low- and Middle-Income Country Assistance)

Authors’ research that is funded primarily (50% or more of the work contained within the article) by an institution or organization from eligible low- and middle-income countries will receive partial (group 2 countries) or full (group 1 countries) fee funding paid by the PLOS Global Participation Initiative (GPI). Group 2 PLOS GPI country authors who need to request additional support should apply for PLOS Publication Fee Assistance instead of the PLOS GPI.

ii. PLOS Publication Fee Assistance (PFA)

• Publication Fee Assistance is intended for authors who demonstrate financial need.

  • An author’s application for PFA will be made upon manuscript submission with disposition usually within 10 business days (previously, authors requested fee assistance at the time of article acceptance and invoicing). PLOS considers applications on a case-by-case basis. 
  • PLOS expects authors to exhaust all alternative funding sources before applying for PFA.
  • The application form includes questions on the availability of alternative funding sources such as the authors’ or co-authors’ institution, institutional library, government agencies, and research funders.
  • Funding disclosure information provided by authors will be used as part of the PFA application review.
  • Information about an applicant’s application for fee assistance will not be disclosed to journal editors or reviewers. PLOS publication decisions will continue to be based solely on editorial criteria.
  • In addition to PLOS, funding sources are available from organizations including institutions, research centers, foundations, government agencies and authors themselves. Visit Open Access funds for examples of fee support for which authors may be eligible. To confirm amounts and details of funding and eligibility, contact the organization as indicated.

PLOS offers individual fee support through the PLOS Global Participation Initiative for articles from eligible low- and middle-income countries.

Authors’ research that is funded primarily (50% or more of the work contained within the article) by an institution or organization from eligible country(ies) will receive partial (group 2 countries) or full (group 1 countries) fee paid by the PLOS Global Participation Initiative. Group 2 PLOS GPI country authors who need to request additional support should apply for PLOS PFA instead of the PLOS GPI.

Since its inception, PLOS has assisted institutions in providing financial support for their researchers. PLOS currently offers an institutional program to support Open Access scientific publishing. Participating institutions have arrangements with PLOS to administer payment for full publication fees for their institutions’ authors. (Special note to UK authors – certain institutions will restrict payment to cover for Wellcome Trust and RCUK research grant recipients only.) To be eligible, authors must be a corresponding author affiliated with the institution or agency in the PLOS Institutional Account Program (fully paid or restricted). Authors from institutions with restricted funds who need support should apply for PLOS Publication Fee Assistance. 

Authors may also be eligible for direct funding from their institution or funder, which may be different from the PLOS Institutional program. See additional Open Access funds for examples. To confirm amounts and details of funding and eligibility, contact the organization as indicated.

More institutions, funders, foundations and government agencies than ever before have come together to cover author publication fees. For example:

• Some funders allow publication fees to be included as line items on a grant.
• Some institutional libraries offer Open Access funds.
• Some deans and/or department heads, or a co-author’s grant, may have discretionary funds available for Open Access publishing, or publishing in general.
• European researchers may be able to access article processing grants from research funders, available via the institutional library. Examples include: Research Councils UK (RCUK), German Research Foundation (DFG) and The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

Since its inception, PLOS has assisted institutions in providing financial support for their researchers and provided individual support programs as listed below. Authors may be eligible for fee support: click the chart below for information. To confirm amounts and details of funding and eligibility, contact the organization as indicated.