The English Monarch has two birthdays – their real date of birth is celebrated in private with family and friends and the official date (which could historically be moved should their real birthday fall at a time of year when the weather was inclement) which is celebrated in public through the Trooping of the Colour Ceremony and a fly-past over Buckingham Palace in London.

PLoS ONE also celebrates twice (but far less grandly) – first there’s the date we opened our doors for submissions, 4 August 2006 (the date of our conception) and then there’s the date we launched (our birth), 20th December 2006.

Within less than 3 weeks of opening our doors we had received 70 manuscripts which represented far more papers flowing far faster than we’d ever experienced before. Now, two years later, we receive approximately 350 submissions per month. Not surprisingly, the PLoS team has grown since then to cope with the increased workload.

Two folks who deserve special mention for being there at the start and still being on board now - they are Bex Walton and Lindsay King.

Two years on, the person who still sums up our publishing philosophy well is the author of the first paper accepted for PLoS ONE, Andrej Romanovsky of St. Joseph's Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. He said "A traditional publisher uses complex rules to determine who, when, how, and at what price will be allowed to see your results. You can continue supporting this system ... or you can submit your next paper to PLoS”.