Public Library of Science (PLOS)
Latest screenshot: 2025-11-15
Access to search interface:
open
Last major interface update:
N/A
Owner of search system:
Public Library of Science
Location of system headquarters:
San Francisco, US
Year of launch:
2003
Type:
Journal platform
X-Handle:
Description of search system (by system owner)
PLOS is a nonprofit, Open Access publisher empowering researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. We’ve been breaking boundaries since 2001. We propelled the movement for OA alternatives to subscription journals. We established the first multi-disciplinary publication inclusive of all research regardless of novelty or impact. And we demonstrated the importance of open data availability.
Total coverage:
335.38K
Year-over-year growth (2021-2022):
-1.00%
Subject coverage:
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (29.06 %); Medicine (27.7 %); Immunology and Microbiology (11.52 %)
Retrospective coverage:
2004–2023
Record types:
5
Open Access records:
335.38K / 100.00%
Search functionality and interface
Systematic keyword searching:
sufficient
Backward citation searching:
sufficient
Forward citation searching:
limited
Query builder:
Search history:
Match preview:
Sorting options:
6
Query
Latency with short query:
2.4 seconds
Latency with long query:
2.63 seconds
Controlled vocabulary:
Field codes:
27
Full text search:
Search string length (narrow):
250 terms max.
Search string length (wide):
250 terms max.
Language support: Chinese:
Language support: Cyrillic:
Truncation:
Wildcards:
Keyword position irrelevant:
Longer strings, fewer hits:
Automatic query expansion (stemming):
Verbatim queries:
Reproducible queries (time):
Reproducible queries (locations):
Operators
Search operators:
3
Boolean 'OR':
Boolean 'AND':
Boolean 'NOT':
Proximity operator:
Boolean works exact:
Nested search (parentheses):
Citation search / filtering
Record type filters:
5
Results filters:
5
Suggested related records:
Supported by bibliometric tools:
N/A
Backward citation information:
Backward citation score:
99.02%
Forward citation information:
Forward citation score:
0.00%
Retrieval
Number of accessible records:
Full
Bulk select records:
Bulk export records:
1
Export formats:
4
API:
open
Bulk select records' backward citations:
Bulk export backward citations:
1
Bulk select records' forward citations:
Bulk export forward citations:
0
