SAN FRANCISCO — The Public Library of Science (PLOS) has officially announced the inauguration of two innovative open access journals, titled PLOS Aging and Health and PLOS Ecosystems. These new publications epitomize PLOS’s unwavering dedication to research rigor, integrity, and the advancement of open science principles. Their launch represents a significant step forward in democratizing access to cutting-edge scientific knowledge while promoting reproducibility and transparency in research methodologies. Intriguingly, PLOS has embraced a transformative Flat Fee publishing model for both journals, designed to alleviate the financial burden on individual researchers by shifting publication costs to an institutional annual subscription structure. This progressive approach enables academic and research institutions to provide unlimited publishing opportunities for their affiliated scholars across participating journals, fostering wider dissemination and impact of scientific work.
PLOS Aging and Health emerges as a dynamic platform eager to publish boundary-breaking research spanning multiple disciplines that explore the complex processes of aging. The journal’s comprehensive scope is deliberately broad: it integrates biological, developmental, clinical, neurological, and functional perspectives to foster a holistic understanding of aging. Emphasizing multidisciplinary collaboration, it aims to delve into diverse factors influencing aging such as disease progression, cognitive decline, mental health alterations, geriatric care innovations, lifestyle interventions, technological advancements, healthcare delivery systems, social determinants, and policy frameworks. This ambitious scope targets not only the biological mechanisms but also the societal and systemic transformations necessary to promote healthy aging and enhance quality of life at both individual and population levels across diverse demographic groups.
Leading the editorial team of PLOS Aging and Health, Jennifer A. Schrack highlights the journal’s commitment to transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries, which often silo aging research into narrowly defined fields like biology, clinical practice, or policy analysis. Schrack emphasizes that the journal seeks to unify global researchers from diverse backgrounds, clinicians, social scientists, and policymakers to cultivate innovative insights and accelerate scientific breakthroughs. This multidisciplinary ethos is expected to increase the visibility and applicability of research findings by promoting integrative methodologies and cross-sector collaboration, which could ultimately accelerate translational outcomes that benefit broader populations.
Sara Hägg, co-editor-in-chief of PLOS Aging and Health, elaborates on the human-centered approach the journal will embody. She underscores the importance of elucidating both biological mechanisms and clinical relevance, fostering research that bridges fundamental biological insights with practical healthcare applications. Hägg points out that aging research remains an evolving domain attracting increasing scholarly interest, making the journal a timely and critical venue for disseminating studies grounded in open science principles. By embedding rigorous ethical standards and transparency throughout the publication process, the journal aspires to drive reproducibility and foster trust in findings critical to advancing gerontological science.
In parallel, PLOS Ecosystems addresses the very urgent and multifaceted challenges confronting global ecosystems. This journal focuses on the conservation, management, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments. Distinctively multidisciplinary and community-driven, it invites contributions from both natural and social sciences and encourages interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research collaborations involving policymakers, resource managers, and practitioners. The journal’s expansive scope covers ecological sustainability across various spatial and temporal scales, examining the complex interdependencies between biodiversity, ecosystem function, and human well-being, thereby positioning itself at the interface of science and society.
Henrique Miguel Pereira, Editor-in-Chief of PLOS Ecosystems, articulates the critical timeliness of launching this journal amid pervasive ecosystem transformations and alarming biodiversity losses worldwide. Pereira accentuates that preserving ecosystems is essential not only for maintaining millions of years of evolutionary heritage but also for addressing interconnected global challenges such as climate change, sustainable agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and urban resilience. By bridging fundamental ecological research with practical environmental management and policy, PLOS Ecosystems aims to foster innovative, science-grounded solutions pivotal for maintaining planetary health and human prosperity.
These journals’ emphasis on open science is central to PLOS’s overarching mission. Open access publishing ensures that vital scientific findings are freely accessible to researchers, practitioners, and the wider public globally, accelerating knowledge exchange and reducing inequality in access to scientific information. By leveraging the Flat Fee publishing model, PLOS innovatively supports institutional subscription schemes that promote broad and equitable participation in the scientific discourse, removing individual monetary barriers that traditionally limit publication opportunities for many researchers.
Lauren Coligan, Publisher at PLOS, underscores the transformative potential of these journals to influence scholarly communication practices within their respective research communities. By extending their portfolio with PLOS Aging and Health and PLOS Ecosystems, PLOS is strategically positioning itself to shape open science norms in fields that are both societally vital and rapidly developing. Rapid access to high-quality, interdisciplinary research published under transparent, ethical frameworks can directly inform policy-making, clinical interventions, ecological restoration efforts, and public health strategies.
The introduction of PLOS Aging and Health and PLOS Ecosystems represents a forward leap in aligning scientific inquiry with urgent real-world challenges. Both journals underscore the necessity of transcending traditional disciplinary silos to foster collaborative, integrative knowledge production. They emphasize the importance of embedding research within open access and open data frameworks to ensure that findings can be systematically validated, reproduced, and extended by others. This approach not only bolsters scientific credibility but also maximizes societal benefit by ensuring wider and faster dissemination of transformative discoveries.
The commitment to addressing aging from a diverse, multidimensional perspective within PLOS Aging and Health reflects growing recognition that aging is not merely a biological inevitability but a complex interplay of physiological, cognitive, social, and environmental factors. Recognizing the policy implications and healthcare system adaptations needed to support healthy aging, this journal promises to provide scientific evidence essential for shaping innovations in prevention, care delivery, and social support systems responsive to shifting demographic realities worldwide.
Similarly, PLOS Ecosystems positions itself as an essential nexus for fostering dialogue among ecologists, social scientists, policymakers, and practitioners navigating the unprecedented environmental crises of our age. By integrating knowledge across disciplines and stakeholder groups, the journal promotes research that not only understands ecosystems in depth but also translates scientific insights into actionable strategies to conserve biodiversity, restore habitat functionality, and mitigate anthropogenic pressures.
Together, these new PLOS journals stand as paragons of the evolving landscape of scholarly publishing, where open access, rigorous peer review, and cross-disciplinary collaboration converge to catalyze innovation and societal impact. They represent a visionary step towards ensuring that scientific progress in aging research and ecosystem science is accessible, actionable, and aligned with the pressing needs of a rapidly changing world.
Subject of Research: Not applicable
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Keywords: Scientific publishing, Medical journals, Scientific journals, Science communication, Academic journals, Open access, Publishing industry, Digital publishing
