Hi Cameron,

The figures don't actually show that high a rejection rate. Many of the papers submitted are still under consideration and so have neither been accepted nor rejected. This actually makes it quite difficult to work out what the acceptance/rejection rate on PLoS ONE really is.

We are growing quickly and are still very new so the flow of submissions isn't at any kind of steady state. Our best estimates at the moment is that acceptance rate will be somewhere between 60% and 80%.

Why are papers rejected?

Some are rejected because they aren't within the scope of PLoS ONE, meaning that they aren't primary research. PLoS ONE isn't designed to handle reviews, essays, opinion pieces and other items of 'Secondary' literature.

But the major reason for rejection is that the editors feel that the data presented is not of a sufficient quality and completeness to support conclusions.