The idea for PLOS began in 2000, when an open letter was circulated by founders Harold Varmus, Patrick Brown and Michael Eisen.

Nearly 34,000 scientists from 180 countries signed.

Recognizing that most existing journals were resistant to changing their business practices, in 2003 we launched our first fully Open Access journal in order to empower researchers to make science immediately and publicly available online, without restrictions. Our Article Processing Charge model, though revolutionary at the time, would soon pave the way for a new wave of publishing options and ensure the future of Open Access.