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And we push boundaries.</p> <p>Designed to further the advancement of science and the communities who depend upon it, we’re transforming research communication to fit the research process. Evolving outputs and policies empower authors to share the full story behind their science with a global audience of researchers, educators, policy makers, patient advocacy groups, and the public.</p> </div> <div data-section-id="2455"> <h2><a data-anchor-id="8077" id="loc-easy-submission" name="loc-easy-submission"></a>Easy Submission</h2> <p>We use an easy, format-free submission process for all research articles to help save you time and effort.</p> <ol> <li><strong>Initial submission.</strong> Upload your manuscript and cover letter. Choose to submit either a single PDF, or separate manuscript and figure files. There are no formatting requirements, and our mini initial submission form takes just 10 minutes to complete.</li> <li><strong>Editorial evaluation.</strong> We’ll evaluate your submission within about a week.* If the editors select your manuscript for external peer review, we’ll invite you to provide additional information.</li> <li><strong>Full submission.</strong> Complete the full submission form. In preparation for external peer review, we’ll ask you to give more details, like the full author list and a competing interest statement. No journal-specific formatting is required until a manuscript is close to acceptance.</li> </ol> <h2><img alt="" class="img-default" src="/plosbiology/indirect/2b99e6785b7fc8fcdfd5743ae2a55e18e79748eaca2b0540a6261aa90cba4268"></h2> <p><sup>*60% of research submissions receive an initial decision within 5 days, 80% within a week</sup></p> <div class="block-basic"> <p><strong>Presubmission inquiries.</strong> If you would like to ask the editors whether a work you have in preparation is a good fit for the journal, please email your inquiry to biology_editors@plos.org If your manuscript is ready, we would strongly recommend that you submit it through our easy submission process, as this will ensure that we receive all of the information needed to make a decision. 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The process is quite straight-forward: to opt in, 1) please add a note in your cover letter to let us know the work was previously reviewed elsewhere, including the name of the journal where the work was previously considered and the manuscript ID it was given, and 2) upload a response to the reviews as a 'Prior Peer Review' file type - this should include the reports in full and a point-by-point reply detailing how you have or plan to address the reviewers' concerns.</p> <p>If we find the work potentially suitable for <em>PLOS Biology</em>, we will contact the previous journal to confirm the prior peer-review history, asking them to share the reviews and, if possible, original reviewer identities. Staff editors work with Academic Editors to arbitrate these reports directly, avoiding or minimizing further peer-review and thereby streamlining the process. If we are unable to obtain the reviewer identities from the prior journal, we would still aim to use the prior reports and, if we need to contact new reviewers, will ask them to evaluate the work as a revision in light of the prior comments.</p> </div> <div data-section-id="2456"> <h2><a data-anchor-id="8078" id="loc-preparing-an-initial-submission" name="loc-preparing-an-initial-submission"></a>Preparing an Initial Submission</h2> <p>All research articles are eligible for our easy, three-part submission process.</p> <p>Your initial submission will consist of:</p> <ol> <li>Manuscript, with a <a data-parent-id="34" href="/plosbiology/s/submission-guidelines#loc-title-page">title page</a> listing all the authors</li> <li>A <a data-parent-id="34" href="/plosbiology/s/submission-guidelines#loc-cover-letter">cover letter</a></li> <li><a href="/plosbiology/s/supporting-information">Supporting information</a> files, if relevant</li> </ol> <p>You can choose to format your initial submission as either:</p> <ul> <li>A single PDF containing the manuscript, figures, and supporting information, or</li> <li>A PDF or Word document manuscript, with figures and supporting information uploaded individually</li> </ul> <p>In either case, upload your cover letter as a separate file.</p> <p> </p> <div style="text-align: center;"> Get started now. </div> <div style="text-align: center;">   </div> <div style=" width: 100%; text-align: center; "> <h4 style=" text-align: center; display: inline-block; "><a href="https://www.editorialmanager.com/pbiology/" style=" display: block; width: 250px; background: #1434C7; color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #436190; padding: 17px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0px; ">Editorial Manager </a></h4> </div> </div> <div data-section-id="2457"> <h2><a data-anchor-id="8079" id="loc-preparing-a-full-submission" name="loc-preparing-a-full-submission"></a>Preparing a Full Submission</h2> <p>If the editors decide to send your manuscript for peer review, we’ll invite you to make a full submission. At this stage, you’ll need to provide:</p> <ul> <li><a href="/plosbiology/s/supporting-information">Full author list and details</a></li> <li><a data-parent-id="34" href="/plosmedicine/s/submission-guidelines#loc-competing-interests">Competing interest statement</a></li> <li><a data-parent-id="34" href="/plosmedicine/s/submission-guidelines#loc-financial-disclosure-statement">Funding disclosure statement</a></li> <li><a data-parent-id="undefined" href="/plosmedicine/s/data-availability">Data availability statement</a></li> <li><a data-parent-id="34" href="/plosmedicine/s/submission-guidelines#loc-human-and-animal-research">Human</a> and <a data-parent-id="34" href="/plosmedicine/s/submission-guidelines#loc-animal-studies">Animal </a>ethics statements, if relevant</li> </ul> <p>For research articles, you can also choose to have PLOS forward your manuscript to medRxiv for consideration for posting as a preprint.</p> </div> <div data-section-id="2436"> <h2 style="text-align: left;"><a data-anchor-id="8224" id="loc-author-resources" name="loc-author-resources"></a>Author Resources</h2> <p style="text-align: left;">Consult these resources to make sure that your manuscript is ready for submission, and find out what to expect later on in the editorial assessment and peer review process.</p> <table class="table-basic"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 20%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="/plosbiology/s/submission-guidelines">Submission guidelines</a></td> <td style="width: 80%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Information about the article types available for primary research and guidelines for manuscript style and formatting</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="/plosbiology/s/editorial-and-publishing-policies">Editorial and publishing policies</a></td> <td style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Information about the requirements that apply to our submissions, including policies on data availability, competing interests, disclosure of funding sources, authorship, and reporting standards.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="/plosbiology/s/other-article-types">Other article types</a></td> <td style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Information about preparing submissions to the <em><i>PLOS Biology</i></em> magazine.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="/plosbiology/s/revising-your-manuscript">Revision guidelines</a></td> <td style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Information about preparing a revised submission.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://plos.org/publish/fees/">Publication fees</a> and <a href="https://plos.org/publish/publishing-faqs/#publication-fees-and-fee-assistance">fee assistance</a></td> <td style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Information about publication fees and fee assistance options. Publication fees will be billed upon acceptance. Authors seeking fee assistance must apply at submission, using the form in the submission system. 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