The Public Library of Science (PLoS) announced the launch of PLoS Pathogens, an international open-access, peer-reviewed journal. The journal is accepting submissions at www.plospathogens.org, and commences publication in September 2005. PLoS Pathogens aims to address research on pathogens including bacteria, fungi, parasites, prions, and viruses. Understanding pathogens remains one of the most serious scientific challenges, one of unparalleled complexity. New pathogens are emerging all the time, and others adapt to treatment efforts. The study of pathogens also provides new insights into fundamental processes such as cellular and organismal function. PLoS Pathogens accepts outstanding original articles that significantly advance the understanding of pathogens and how they interact with their host organisms. Topics include (but are not limited to) adaptive and innate immune defenses and pathogen countermeasures, emerging pathogens, evolution, genomics and gene regulation, model host organisms, pathogen-cell biology, pathogenesis, prions, proteomics and signal transduction, rational vaccine design, structural biology, and virulence factors. "PLoS Pathogens provides a much needed single venue for publishing outstanding and rigorous papers in the broad field of pathogen research," states John A. T. Young, Editor-in-Chief of PLoS Pathogens and Professor in the Infectious Disease Laboratory at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. "The open-access component of this journal is critical because of the extensive scientific and public interest in this field." PLoS Pathogens emerges as an imperative open-access journal in a field that has important global medical, agricultural, and economic consequences. PLoS Pathogens is accessible to all, and immediately searchable via PubMed. In addition, the authors retain the copyrights, and give scientists all over the world immediate free access to all content. PLoS Pathogens provides an excellent peer-review system and rapid turnaround, with a team of leading academic editors. "The Public Library of Science is delighted that such an outstanding group of scientists in the field of pathogen research are launching PLoS Pathogens," states Dr. Michael Eisen, Co-Founder of PLoS. "This journal is among a new generation of open-access journals that serve the scientific community without the subscription barriers that block access to so many important journals in the field. We believe these communities can lead the way in developing innovative ways to make use of the growing library of freely available scientific discoveries, and continue to propel the emerging and evolving themes in pathogenesis forward." In order to make important scientific discoveries openly accessible online within a sustainable publishing model, PLoS believes that the cost of publication should be treated as an integral component of the cost of doing research. The authors of each research article published in PLoS Pathogens are asked to pay $1,500 from their grants, or directly from their funders or institutions. That charge is waived for any authors who say they cannot afford it, through a process that cannot influence editorial decisions. In many cases, publication charges are reduced or waived through PLoS Institutional Memberships and foundation grants. As an important move to further PLoS's commitment to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource, PLoS is seeking partnerships, collaborations, and field expertise within scientific communities and societies to inspire and facilitate the launch of open-access initiatives. Community journals are a large part of this strategy, and include PLoS Computational Biology (www.ploscompbiol.org), published in partnership with the International Society for Computational Biology, and PLoS Genetics (www.plosgenetics.org). The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical research a public resource. PLoS publishes open-access journals of original peer-reviewed research, including PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine, which are available at no cost to anyone in the world with a connection to the Internet. More information about PLoS can be found at www.plos.org and www.plospathogens.org.