On 11 September 2024, in a blog post, PLOS announced the introduction of a new article type—essays. The essays are predominantly solicited by PLOS editors and designed to be compelling, opinion-based pieces, focused on the most urgent and impactful topics facing those journals’ fields. They fulfill a community need for an article type that can, in particular, address concerns related to policy implications of regional or intersectional interest.
Essays will be written in an accessible, non-specialist style and will typically be 3000-4000 words in length. Unlike more traditional Review articles, which relay a thorough account of a particular topic, Essays are centered around a provocative question with an in-depth and engaging analysis of the problem. However, as is the case with Reviews, Essays undergo full peer review and our Editors will work closely with authors throughout the process.
The intention of Essays is very much in line with the overarching values of PLOS Climate, PLOS Global Public Health, PLOS Mental Health and PLOS Water, which are all mission driven and community-focused, with an aim to stimulate discussions that drive their respective fields. PLOS looks forward to Essays shaping these journals and contributing to the ways in which they serve their communities.
Take a look at some of the first Essays, published respectively in PLOS Climate, PLOS Global Public Health and PLOS Mental Health:
PLOS Climate’s first published Essay, by Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair of WGI in the IPCC’s AR6 cycle, offers a wide-ranging reflection on the future of climate science and the next generation of climate scientists.
PLOS Global Public Health’s first published Essay, by Chase Yarbrough, Michael Miller, Mosala Zulu, Danielle Sharp, Afom T. Andom, Melino Ndayizigiye, Kwonjune Justin Seung, and Paul Sonenthal, from Harvard University and Partners in Health, discusses the burden of long-term functional impairment following curative treatment for tuberculosis (TB), which constitutes a significant global health problem.
PLOS Mental Health’s first published Essay is by Robert Rubin and colleagues from David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. In this Essay, Professor Rubin who is Director of National Association of Veteran Affairs Physicians and Dentists (NAVAPD) uses case studies to demonstrate the importance of differentiating between very early onset dementia and psychosis and how more accurate diagnoses can drastically improve quality of life and increase life expectancy.
According to David Knudson, Head of Communications, "PLOS Biology accepted essays prior to this announcement. PLOS has no formal plans to launch this article type to other journals at the moment. The current rollout on PLOS Climate, PLOS Mental Health, PLOS Global Public Health and PLOS Water was in response to identifying a need by those specific research communities because authors were submitting Essay-type articles to those journals that were worthy of publication, but we didn't have an article type to accommodate them. If we see the same phenomenon on other journals, that will prompt us to consider rolling out Essay (or another article type, as per community need) to more journals."