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Public Library of Science

In research, Public Library of Science stands highest in Social Sciences (#9,815 of 14,833 worldwide), over all time.

plos.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, all time
#20,123
of 34,923
Rank in United States
#4,176
of 7,310
Research works
276
▲ 7% vs 2018-21
Citations
3.3k
11.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
11.5%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.91×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
73%
world 40%
International
34%
world 18%
Public Library of Science

What is Public Library of Science known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, over all time, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Social SciencesDomain #9,815 of 14,833 11.6%130

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Public Library of Science sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does Public Library of Science work in?

In 2022-now, 55% of research at Public Library of Science is in Social Sciences, 21% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Social Sciences (21%), Decision Sciences (14%), Medicine (12%). It does 2.0× the world's share of Social Sciences.

Social Sciences: 36 fractional works · 54.7% of its workSocial Sciences: 14 fractional works · 20.7% of its workSociology and Political Science: 3 fractional works · 5.1% of its workEducation: 3 fractional works · 4.6% of its workLibrary and Information Sciences: 2 fractional works · 3.6% of its workLaw: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workSafety Research: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workAnthropology: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workUrban Studies: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workDemography: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workCultural Studies: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workDevelopment: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGender Studies: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workTransportation: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHealth: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDecision Sciences: 9 fractional works · 13.5% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 4 fractional works · 5.7% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 3 fractional works · 5.1% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 2 fractional works · 2.8% of its workArts and Humanities: 6 fractional works · 8.8% of its workHistory: 2 fractional works · 2.3% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workVisual Arts and Performing Arts: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workClassics: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workLiterature and Literary Theory: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workConservation: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workReligious studies: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMuseology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workLanguage and Linguistics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 5 fractional works · 8.0% of its workManagement Information Systems: 3 fractional works · 4.7% of its workMarketing: 2 fractional works · 2.5% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPsychology: 2 fractional works · 2.9% of its workSocial Psychology: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workClinical Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workDevelopmental and Educational Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNeuropsychology and Physiological Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPhysical Sciences: 14 fractional works · 20.5% of its workComputer Science: 5 fractional works · 8.2% of its workInformation Systems: 5 fractional works · 7.2% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workHuman-Computer Interaction: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Science: 4 fractional works · 6.5% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workEcological Modeling: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEcology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPollution: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEngineering: 3 fractional works · 4.1% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.7% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workMechanical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workBuilding and Construction: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workGeology: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSpace and Planetary Science: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 12 fractional works · 18.4% of its workMedicine: 8 fractional works · 12.1% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 3 fractional works · 4.0% of its workPediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workPsychiatry and Mental health: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSurgery: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPhysiology: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workObstetrics and Gynecology: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workReproductive Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEmergency Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workOncology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workRheumatology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCritical Care and Intensive Care Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEpidemiology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNeurology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workHealth Professions: 4 fractional works · 5.6% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 3 fractional works · 4.1% of its workHealth Information Management: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workEmergency Medical Services: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workNutrition and Dietetics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workLife Sciences: 4 fractional works · 6.4% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2 fractional works · 3.4% of its workGenetics: 1 fractional works · 1.7% of its workMolecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workCell Biology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNeuroscience: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workNeurology: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSensory Systems: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workFood Science: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workImmunology: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKPublic Library ofScience67fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences6%Physical Sciences21%Health Sciences18%Social Sciences55%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 21 fields, with their numbers
    1. Social Sciences1420.7%
    2. Decision Sciences913.5%
    3. Arts and Humanities68.8%
    4. Business, Management and Accounting58.0%
    5. Psychology22.9%
    6. Economics, Econometrics and Finance10.8%
    1. Computer Science58.2%
    2. Environmental Science46.5%
    3. Engineering34.1%
    4. Earth and Planetary Sciences11.0%
    5. Physics and Astronomy00.5%
    6. Materials Science00.1%
    7. Mathematics00.1%
    1. Medicine812.1%
    2. Health Professions45.6%
    3. Nursing00.5%
    4. Dentistry00.2%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology23.4%
    2. Neuroscience11.1%
    3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences11.0%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology10.9%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.21× its world share, 1 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.63× its world share, 2 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.93× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.68× its world share, 1 worksNeuroscienceComputer Science: 1.05× its world share, 6 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.67× its world share, 1 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 0.27× its world share, 3 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.31× its world share, 4 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.22× its world share, 0 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.34× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 2.14× its world share, 4 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.63× its world share, 8 worksMedicineNursing: 0.94× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 3.04× its world share, 6 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.49× its world share, 5 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 14.00× its world share, 9 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.39× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.94× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.63× its world share, 14 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Decision Sciences, 14.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 21 fields, with their numbers
  1. Decision Sciences14.00×9 works
  2. Arts and Humanities3.04×6 works
  3. Business, Management and Accounting2.49×5 works
  4. Health Professions2.14×4 works
  5. Social Sciences1.63×14 works
  6. Environmental Science1.31×4 works
  7. Computer Science1.05×6 works
  8. Nursing0.94×0 works
  9. Psychology0.94×2 works
  10. Immunology and Microbiology0.93×1 works
  11. Neuroscience0.68×1 works
  12. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.67×1 works
  13. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.63×2 works
  14. Medicine0.63×8 works
  15. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.39×1 works
  16. Dentistry0.34×0 works
  17. Engineering0.27×3 works
  18. Physics and Astronomy0.22×0 works
  19. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.21×1 works
  20. Mathematics0.07×0 works
  21. Materials Science0.03×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Public Library of Science?

Ranked on the quality score, Barbara J. Cohen, Lauren Cadwallader and Véronique Kiermer lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Public Library of Science.

  1. 1 Barbara J. Cohen United States · #589,717 worldwide 2.7k citations · 38 works
  2. 2 Lauren Cadwallader United States · #646,773 worldwide 691 citations · 75 works
  3. 3 Véronique Kiermer United States · #1,099,684 worldwide 4.4k citations · 88 works
  4. 4 Larry Peiperl United States · #1,306,355 worldwide 1.6k citations · 42 works
  5. 5 Lauren A. Richardson United States · #1,813,863 worldwide 483 citations · 17 works
  6. 6 Emma Ganley United States · #2,303,933 worldwide 388 citations · 38 works
  7. 7 Andy Collings United States · #2,415,365 worldwide 345 citations · 24 works
  8. 8 James Harney United States · #2,618,967 worldwide 114 citations · 22 works
  9. 9 Andy Gass United States · #3,722,676 worldwide 79 citations · 16 works
  10. 10 Melody Specht Kelly United States · #4,037,858 worldwide 3 citations · 15 works
All ranked researchers at Public Library of Science

What are the most cited papers from Public Library of Science?

The most cited paper from Public Library of Science is "The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research" (Nathalie Percie du Sert et al., 2020), with 6,005 citations. Next come "Reporting animal research: Explanation and elaboration for the ARRIVE guidelines 2.0" (2,875) and "Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting: the GATHER statement" (1,765).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research Nathalie Percie du Sert et al. · PLoS Biology Open access 14 Jul 2020 6,005
2 Reporting animal research: Explanation and elaboration for the ARRIVE guidelines 2.0 Nathalie Percie du Sert et al. · PLoS Biology Open access 14 Jul 2020 2,875
3 Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting: the GATHER statement Gretchen A Stevens, Leontine Alkema, Robert E. Black et al. · The Lancet Open access 28 Jun 2016 1,765
4 The ARRIVE guidelines 2019: updated guidelines for reporting animal research Nathalie Percie du Sert et al. · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) PreprintOpen access 15 Jul 2019 1,053
5 STrengthening the REporting of Genetic Association Studies (STREGA)— An Extension of the STROBE Statement Julian Little et al. · PLoS Medicine Open access 30 Jan 2009 799
All 50 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Public Library of Science?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Big Data, Digital Repositories, Ecology, Data Sharing, Scientific Data Management, Bibliometric Analysis, Research Evaluation and Scientific Impact.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Big Data4▲ 6.1×7 topics
  2. Sustainability3▲ 2.1×6 topics
  3. Data Sharing3▲ 144×1 topic
  4. Digital Repositories3▲ 136×2 topics
  5. Ecology3▲ 27×2 topics
  6. Healthcare3▲ 4.0×7 topics
  7. Scientific Data Management3▲ 174×1 topic
  8. Supply Chain Management3▲ 5.0×2 topics
  9. Bibliometric Analysis3▲ 74×2 topics
  10. Research Evaluation3▲ 159×1 topic
  11. Science Communication3▲ 46×3 topics
  12. Scientific Impact3▲ 159×1 topic
  13. COVID-192▲ 2.8×6 topics
  14. Peer Review2▲ 101×3 topics
  15. Analytics2▲ 40×1 topic
  16. Business Intelligence2▲ 40×1 topic
  17. Reproducibility2▲ 82×1 topic
  18. Scientific Workflows2▲ 82×1 topic
  19. Workflow Management2▲ 45×2 topics
  20. Research Integrity2▲ 99×2 topics
  21. Scholarly Communication2▲ 106×2 topics
  22. Open Access2▲ 29×3 topics
  23. Research Dissemination2▲ 123×2 topics
  24. Academic Libraries2▲ 121×3 topics
  25. Information Literacy2▲ 11×2 topics
  26. Online Research2▲ 111×2 topics
  27. Digital Literacy2▲ 4.4×2 topics
  28. Knowledge Management2▲ 4.6×6 topics
  29. Marketing Strategy2▲ 22×2 topics
  30. Literature2▲ 4.4×5 topics
  31. Preprints2▲ 139×1 topic
  32. Scientific Publishing2▲ 139×1 topic
  33. Environmental Attitudes2▲ 29×2 topics
  34. Information Behavior2▲ 230×1 topic
  35. Library Instruction2▲ 230×1 topic
  36. Medical Education2▲ 8.5×3 topics
  37. Distance Education1▲ 11×2 topics
  38. Training1▲ 9.8×2 topics
  39. Inclusion1▲ 14×2 topics
  40. Legislation1▲ 12×1 topic

Which research topics does Public Library of Science publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Research Data Management Practices, scientometrics and bibliometrics research, Big Data and Business Intelligence and Scientific Computing and Data Management.

Research Data Management Practices: 3 fractional worksscientometrics and bibliometrics research: 3 fractional worksBig Data and Business In…2Big Data and Business Intelligence: 2 fractional worksScientific Computing and…2Scientific Computing and Data Management: 2 fractional worksAcademic Publishing and Open Access: 2 fractional worksLibrary Science and Information Literacy: 2 fractional worksAcademic Research in Div…1Academic Research in Diverse Fields: 1 fractional worksHealth Sciences Research and Education: 1 fractional worksMisinformation and Its Impacts: 1 fractional worksCustomer churn and segmentation: 1 fractional works
Information SystemsStatistics, Probability and UncertaintyManagement Information SystemsInformation Systems and Management5 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Research Data Management Practices Information Systems 3 works
  2. 2 scientometrics and bibliometrics research Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty 3 works
  3. 3 Big Data and Business Intelligence Management Information Systems 2 works
  4. 4 Scientific Computing and Data Management Information Systems and Management 2 works
  5. 5 Academic Publishing and Open Access Information Systems and Management 2 works
  6. 6 Library Science and Information Literacy Library and Information Sciences 2 works
  7. 7 Academic Research in Diverse Fields Education 1 works
  8. 8 Health Sciences Research and Education General Health Professions 1 works
  9. 9 Misinformation and Its Impacts Sociology and Political Science 1 works
  10. 10 Customer churn and segmentation Marketing 1 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available73.4%not open26.6%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors33.8%domestic only66.2%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Public Library of Science's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 7% higher than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Public Library of Science as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00019% in 2024.

still counting0.00050%0.0010%Public Library of Science0.00025% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Public Library of Science over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

Other research institutions in San Francisco

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Public Library of Science on Science Explorer

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Discussion

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