Biology · Slow Speed

PLOS Biology

Public Library of Science

Primary Field

Biology

ISSN Number

1545-7885

Publish Time

50 weeks

Impact Score

386 H-Index

Annual Volume

8.5k papers

Last Verified

Apr 5, 2026

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Median Review

17w

Submission to decision

Production

33w

Acceptance to final pub

Total Pipeline

50w

End-to-end estimate

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Methodology & Data Integrity

Data Sources: Information aggregated from OpenAlex, DOAJ, Crossref, and PubMed APIs, covering publication records from the last 5 years.

Sample Selection: For each journal, we analyze up to 500 randomly selected papers (100 per year) to ensure high statistical confidence.

Median Calculation: We use median values for review and production times to minimize the impact of outliers and provide a realistic middle-ground estimate.

Community Powered: These estimates are augmented by direct researcher reports from authors like you.

Everything you need to know

Frequently Asked

How long does PLOS Biology take from submission to publication?

PLOS Biology currently has an estimated total publication timeline of about 50 weeks, including roughly 17 weeks for peer review and 33 weeks for production. Use this as a planning estimate rather than a guarantee.

Is PLOS Biology considered fast or slow for Biology?

PLOS Biology can be compared against other Biology journals using its total estimated timeline, H-Index, and annual volume. Whether it feels fast or slow depends on your field norms, revision rounds, and how urgent your submission timeline is.

How reliable is the publication speed estimate for PLOS Biology?

The estimate for PLOS Biology is based on publication metadata and available dataset estimates. It is useful for comparison and shortlist decisions, but individual papers can still move faster or slower depending on reviewers, editors, and revision cycles.

Can I submit my own timeline for PLOS Biology?

Yes. You can share your submission and acceptance dates on this page. Community submissions help improve the accuracy of PLOS Biology timeline estimates for future authors.