PLOS BIOLOGY

This journal is a very well-established magazine with a low acceptance rate for submissions. Compared to journals like PNAS and NC, the editors are very professional and have high requirements for data and logic. It takes three weeks for the submission to be reviewed and several months to receive the first review result. Three months are given to supplement data, and the second review goes relatively smoothly. After the process of confirming all the original data, proofreading, and so on, the publication is formally confirmed.

Overall, the process is relatively lengthy. However, this journal only publishes a little over 200 articles per year and has a strong reputation. Due to the low number of submissions from Chinese scholars, the impact factor is not high. Unlike NC, PNAS, and SA, which rely on luck in encountering good editors, Plos Biology is a very valuable professional journal. In Europe and America, many journals that were originally prepared to be submitted to CNS ended up being submitted to Plos Biology, mainly due to its professionalism. Therefore, getting published in a journal like this is really quite good.

From a professional perspective, I think that Plos Biology is not inferior to PNAS. It has a high reputation abroad and is known for its strong professionalism. However, due to its low publication volume and fewer contributions from Chinese researchers, its impact factor is not high. PNAS, on the other hand, is a comprehensive journal with insufficient professional editing. Many times, it is a matter of luck whether your submission gets accepted or rejected, depending on the editor you encounter. Additionally, PNAS is generally considered as a backup journal for academicians. Therefore, I believe that although Plos Biology may have a lower impact factor compared to PNAS, it holds its value better.