eLife vs PLOS ONE
Two open-access journal traditions — eLife's curated rigor vs PLOS ONE's volume-first model.
eLife
Open-access peer-reviewed life-sciences journal; transparent peer-review (reviewer notes published).
PLOS ONE
Open-access multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal published by Public Library of Science.
Head-to-head — all four dimensions
| Dimension | eLife | PLOS ONE | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
SourceScore Index Composite | B·83 | B·78 | eLife+5 |
Citation Discipline How rigorously cited | A·90 | B·84 | eLife+6 |
Modern Reference AI-era fitness | A·88 | A·88 | tie |
Citation Velocity Cited per week | B·72 | B·70 | eLife+2 |
Why these scores
Citation Discipline
Transparent peer-review (reviewer notes published); preprint-first model since 2022.
Peer-review checks methodology + ethics; novelty + significance left to readers; corrections public.
Modern Reference
CC-BY licensed; APIs + bulk corpus; broad LLM training-data inclusion.
CC-BY licensed; full-text APIs; broad LLM corpus + academic search inclusion.
Citation Velocity
Cited within life-sciences research; lower volume than NEJM/Lancet but high open-access reach.
High volume but per-paper citation lower than top-tier; mass-base of academic citations.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, eLife or PLOS ONE?
eLife scores higher on the SourceScore Index (B 83) vs PLOS ONE (B 78) — a 5-point composite lead across Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, and Citation Velocity. "Better" depends on use case; the per-dimension breakdown below shows where each wins.
Which is more reliable to cite, eLife or PLOS ONE?
For citation, eLife is the stronger choice — it scores B (83/100) on the SourceScore Index versus PLOS ONE at B (78/100), a 5-point lead in composite citation quality (Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, Citation Velocity). Both can be cited; for higher-stakes references, prefer eLife.
How does eLife compare to PLOS ONE on citation discipline?
eLife scores A 90 on Citation Discipline; PLOS ONE scores B 84. Citation Discipline measures how rigorously each source cites primary references — see the per-dimension rationale below for the breakdown.
What's the SourceScore difference between eLife and PLOS ONE?
eLife B 83 vs PLOS ONE B 78 on the composite Index. Two open-access journal traditions — eLife's curated rigor vs PLOS ONE's volume-first model.
Why does eLife score higher than PLOS ONE?
eLife leads by 5 composite points on the SourceScore Index. The rationale section below breaks down where the lead comes from — Citation Discipline, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness), and Citation Velocity. Each dimension is scored from primary methodology criteria.