Plos

What it reported doing in 2024

The public library of science (plos) advances its charitable purpose by driving open science forward with measurable, meaningful change in research publishing, policy, and practice. We publish a portfolio of peer-reviewed, open access scientific journals, removing financial, legal, and technical barriers to accessing research by ensuring that all articles and associated data are freely available to the public without subscription fees. During the tax year, plos published approximately 20,000 peer-reviewed articles from authors in 163 countries across 14 scientific journals and provided $5.7 million in partial or full article processing charge (apc) waivers to authors. 4a. Largest program service (by expenses): science and medical publishing are the core of our program expense at over $31million. In 2024 we published more than 20,000 research articles documenting the methods, observations and discoveries of a diverse scientific community. Thousands of researchers across the globe dedicated their time as academic editors and reviewers to bringing this work to the public.the activities involved in our publishing operation include:- editorial and production work - receipt and triage of submissions; performing and coordinating their peer review; and production and online publication of accepted articles. - marketing and outreach - promoting articles and inviting submissions, increasing awareness and understanding of open science benefits and practices, promoting initiatives such as calls for papers, and creating resources for authors and reviewers.- publishing ethics - handling ethical and scientific concerns involving submissions and published articles.- engagement with research communities (e.g. By attending and/or organizing conferences, events, and workshops) - to ensure the journals and their policies reflect the research interests and values of these fields and communities.- media - collaborating with authors, institutions, science media centers and journalists to communicate research to both scientists and society. The scope of plos journals publishing in 2024 includes:- plos one is a global, inclusive journal publishing research in over two hundred subject areas across science, engineering, medicine, and the related social sciences and humanities. - plos biology is a leading life science journal that champions high-impact research across all disciplinesfrom molecules to ecosystems.- plos climate empowers global, multidisciplinary collaboration, and enables decision-makers at every level of society to take urgent, evidence-based action on the causes and impacts of climate change.- plos complex systems is a selective interdisciplinary journal focused on research that AIDS our understanding of the world through a complexity lens, and fosters discussion within the emerging complexity community.- plos computational biology is home to research of significance that seeks to better understand the living world through computational methods and cutting-edge tools.- plos digital health is dedicated to advancing equitable and digitally-enabled healthcare, increasing trust in new tools, and improving reproducibility in the field of digital health research. - plos genetics publishes research related to genetics and genomics across the full breadth of this field, from microbes to humans and from basic science to translational approaches.- plos global public health makes work of the highest methodological and ethical rigor openly available to the researchers, policy experts, and clinicians who depend on it to tackle urgent health crises and advance health equity.- plos medicine is our leading health science journal publishing impactful research that transforms global healthcare and advances clinical understanding.- plos neglected tropical diseases focuses on research addressing the needs of neglected, forgotten, and under-resourced populations, working with global communities and researchers to improve the health of all.- plos pathogens pu

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 73.6%; rating input score 74
• Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
• Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 10.5%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 8.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings