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Getting Started

We offer format-free initial submission

PLOS Computational Biology waives all formatting requirements until your manuscript has received a provisional Editorial Accept decision.
Review the quick checklist below to begin preparing your submission.

This will help ensure that your submission is complete and gets handled as quickly as possible. 

✔ Make sure your manuscript is a good fit for PLOS Computational Biology

Read the journal scope and article type descriptions.

If you are submitting content other than a research article, read the guidelines for other article types.

✔ Identify potential editors and reviewers

See the list of Editorial Board members to identify those who might be a good match for your research. You will enter this information in the submission form. When suggesting editors to handle your work, bear in mind any potential competing interests, e.g., do not suggest recent collaborators or other researchers at your institution. 

Identify experts within your field who would be able to serve as independent, objective reviewers, free from competing interests. See our competing interests policy for more information. Please note it is not appropriate to suggest recent collaborators or other researchers at your institution.

✔ Read journal policies

Review the editorial and publishing policies to understand the requirements that apply to your submission.

✔ Prepare funding and competing statements

Read our policies on disclosure of funding sources and competing interests.

✔ Prepare your data

Remember to deposit your data in an appropriate data repository, or format and submit it as Supporting Information. Be ready to provide a Data Availability Statement. Read our policy on data availability.

✔ Confirm the author list

Do you have the following information for all authors listed on the manuscript?

  • Full names, including initials if used
  • Affiliations
  • Email address
  • Any potential competing interests
  • Funding information
  • Author contributions
  • Order of authors

Make sure the corresponding author has an ORCID iD and all authors are aware of the submission. Read more about preparing the author list.

✔ Check that your study follows appropriate reporting guidelines

Read more about recommended reporting guidelines for different study types.

✔ Read the license agreement

PLOS applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to works we publish. Under this license, authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Anyone may copy, distribute, or reuse these articles, as long as the author and original source are properly cited.

You must be prepared to sign the license agreement on behalf of all the authors. Read our licenses and copyright policy

✔ Prepare funding and competing statements

Read our policies on disclosure of funding sources and competing interests.

✔ Consider posting a preprint

PLOS encourages authors to post preprints as a way to accelerate the dissemination of research. Authors of manuscripts in the life sciences can take advantage of our partnership with bioRxiv to post a preprint as part of the PLOS submission process. All authors can provide a DOI for previously posted preprints at the repository of their choice.

✔ Access the submission system

Submit new manuscripts in the online submission system.

If you are a new user, click Register Now to create an account. If you are having trouble accessing an existing account, click Login Help or email the journal
https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/s/getting-started
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