PLOS One marks 20 years of advancing rigorous, multidisciplinary open science

PLOS One, the multidisciplinary open access journal published by PLOS, is marking 20 years of publishing research grounded in scientific rigor, transparency, and ethical practice. Since its launch in 2006, PLOS One has provided a platform for research to be shared, examined, and built on, across disciplines and around the world.

PLOS One was the first open access, inclusive journal dedicated to publication of research that met strict ethical and technical standards, regardless of the perceived impact or interest of the findings. Over two decades, this approach has enabled the dissemination of research across more than 200 fields, and supported open discussion across disciplinary boundaries. Today, PLOS One continues to publish rigorously conducted, peer‑reviewed research with real‑world relevance, reflecting the evolving questions and methods shaping modern science.

As part of the 20th anniversary, the journal is showcasing 20 examples of PLOS One papers which have sparked discussion within and beyond the research community (see below links).

The journal has also created three new commentaries which highlight published research connecting real‑world questions with evidence‑based investigation, across a wide range of disciplines: 

Tracking global ocean plastic pollution: https://plos.io/4nmVzi9 

Growing food on Mars: https://plos.io/4fdjdeH 

People-centered cancer research: https://plos.io/4uetA6P 

PLOS One’s editorial and publishing practices are underpinned by a strong commitment to research integrity, reproducibility, and ethical standards. Editorial screening, peer review, and post‑publication checks combine to support transparent and responsible research communication, in keeping with PLOS’s wider mission to advance open science.

As part of the 20th anniversary, readers are invited to explore selected research highlights, learn more about PLOS One’s editorial approach, and discover recent widely-discussed articles from across the journal’s scope.

Journalists and readers can explore the anniversary content at: https://plos.io/3P8QiOz 

Published PLOS One research is freely available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/

Highlighted Research: For the 20th anniversary, PLOS One is highlighting 20 articles that have been widely discussed within and beyond the research community:

1. Considering ecological traits of fishes to understand microplastic ingestion across Pacific coastal fisheries

2. A double-edged hashtag: Evaluation of #ADHD-related TikTok content and its associations with perceptions of ADHD

3. Age-related changes in gait, balance, and strength parameters: A cross-sectional study

4. The Myth of Man the Hunter: Women’s contribution to the hunt across ethnographic contexts

5. Dogs can discriminate between human baseline and psychological stress condition odours

6. Red seaweed (Asparagopsis taxiformis) supplementation reduces enteric methane by over 80 percent in beef steers

7. A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals

8. Understanding climate change from a global analysis of city analogues

9. Anthropogenic contamination of tap water, beer, and sea salt

10. More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

11. Twelve Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Improves Indices of Cardiometabolic Health Similar to Traditional Endurance Training despite a Five-Fold Lower Exercise Volume and Time Commitment

12. Low 2012–13 Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Associated with Mutation in the Egg-Adapted H3N2 Vaccine Strain Not Antigenic Drift in Circulating Viruses

13. The Importance of the Secure Base Effect for Domestic Dogs – Evidence from a Manipulative Problem-Solving Task

14. Large Aggregates Are the Major Soluble Aβ Species in AD Brain Fractionated with Density Gradient Ultracentrifugation

15. Why Do Woodpeckers Resist Head Impact Injury: A Biomechanical Investigation

16. New Horned Dinosaurs from Utah Provide Evidence for Intracontinental Dinosaur Endemism

17. How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data

18. Social Waves in Giant Honeybees Repel Hornets

19. Resistance Exercise Reverses Aging in Human Skeletal Muscle

20. The Effectiveness of Contact Tracing in Emerging Epidemics