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  3. Impact factor

Public Library of Science · ISSN 1553-7366 · 1553-7374

PLOS Pathogens impact factor, and the open numbers behind it.

Short answer

The Journal Impact Factor is a licensed Clarivate metric, so we do not reproduce it. The closest open equivalent is OpenAlex's two-year mean citedness: 5.57 citations per paper for PLOS Pathogens, retrieved 23 Oct 2026.

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Key metrics

Two-year mean citedness
5.57Citations per paper, papers from the two prior yearsSource: OpenAlex
h-index
315Across all yearsSource: OpenAlex
Papers in 2025
76712,958 in totalSource: OpenAlex
Access
OpenAPC about $3,043Source: OpenAlex
Output

Papers per year.

How many works PLOS Pathogens published in each complete year, as indexed by OpenAlex.

4006008001,0002019202020212022202320242025767

Fig. 1 — Works per year from OpenAlex. Retrieved 23 Oct 2026.

Scope

What PLOS Pathogens publishes.

Mostly Genetics, Virology and Immunology, within Medicine.

  • Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
  • HIV Research and Treatment
  • Immune Response and Inflammation
  • interferon and immune responses
  • Virology and Viral Diseases
  • Escherichia coli research studies

Most frequent research topics in OpenAlex.

Alternatives

Journals with a similar citation profile.

JournalTwo-year mean citednessh-indexAccess
PLOS Pathogens5.57315Open
Cardiovasc Res5.28300Subscription
Neurobiol Dis5.26225Open
J Virol4.74421Open
Circ Res4.63507Subscription
Questions

About PLOS Pathogens.

Comment 1What is the PLOS Pathogens impact factor?
Response

The Journal Impact Factor is a licensed Clarivate metric, so we do not reproduce it. The closest open equivalent is OpenAlex's two-year mean citedness: 5.57 citations per paper for PLOS Pathogens, retrieved 23 Oct 2026.

Comment 2Is PLOS Pathogens open access?
Response

Yes, PLOS Pathogens is fully open access, with an article processing charge of about $3,043.

Comment 3How many papers does PLOS Pathogens publish a year?
Response

OpenAlex records 767 works in 2025, and 12,958 in total.

Sources

  1. 1. OpenAlex source record · retrieved 23 Oct 2026

The Journal Impact Factor is a Clarivate metric and is not reproduced here.

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