This week’s Resource Highlight is another open access resource: PLoS One.  Labeled with an acronym of its publisher, the Public Library of Science, PLoS One is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication. Not only can you access quality open source articles from around the globe, but you can retrieve them from anywhere with an internet connection.

PLoS One also strives to publish articles as quickly as possible, without delaying the process to gauge which pieces will gain the greatest readership; a huge plus of open access publications. Resting on the belief that the impact of research should be based on the individual article as opposed to the journal as a whole, PLoS One has implemented a process for assessing metrics on the article level. They record article’s usage statistics, blogosphere coverage, and citation metrics, for example. PLoS One invites users to visit their Blog for more detailed information about article-level metrics.

As always, an easy way to access the PLoS One database is by visiting the MSK Library web site and keying in “PloS One” into the EResources search box.