PLOS Water is live

I’m happy to share the news that PLOS Water launched today!

For those who aren’t familiar with the history, PLOS (Public Library of Science) is a non-profit, open-access publishing house that arose from a movement by activist researchers who pledged not to publish in journals that put their content behind a paywall. Thousands of academic researchers signed the pledge (including yours truly) but most did not live up to it (including yours truly).

A common excuse was that there were few/no high-quality journals that accepted papers in a given researcher’s field *and* that published open access. Mike Eisen, Pat Brown, and Harold Varmus co-founded PLOS to rectify that gap, and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation provided financial support that eventually led to the launch of PLOS One. On the heels of its success, PLOS has launched a number of specialized journals, including now PLOS Water.

I accepted the invitation to become co-Editor-in-Chief for PLOS Water last year because I admire PLOS’s commitment to advancing open science. Among other benefits, I believe the open science movement can expand opportunities for scholars in LMICs. I also think more collaboration among the many freshwater research and practice communities is key to advancing equity, efficiency, resilience, and ecosystem protection goals in the management and use of water. I want PLOS Water to be a platform that catalyzes this type of engagement.

The EIC role has been quite a learning experience for me thus far. The leadership and staff at PLOS have been supportive and very patient with my co-EIC Pierre Horwitz and me. I’m very grateful for the enthusiasm of our all-volunteer editorial board, who are helping us to balance our ambitions for enhancing the diversity (geographic, disciplinary, perspective) of voices in this field against the exigencies of academic publishing.

If you are among the researchers who have shared your manuscripts with PLOS Water, thank you. We’re sincerely jazzed to play a small role in your story. And to all in the freshwater community who support open science, I hope you’ll consider submitting your work to PLOS Water.