The PLoS Medicine paper entitled "Effect of Artemether-Lumefantrine Policy and Improved Vector Control on Malaria Burden in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa" showed how the burden of malaria could be rapidly reduced; the results were important for health policy makers.
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The publication of the PLoS Biology paper entitled "Removing the Threat of Diclofenac to Critically Endangered Asian Vultures" was very timely. That same day the government of India convened a two-day international meeting to decide how to save endangered vultures who had fed on domestic livestock treated with diclofenac; the identification of an alternative drug for use in cattle may have come just in time.
Dr Asad Rahmani, Director of the Bombay Natural History Society said: "It is essential that the government of India acts quickly to make good use of this new information. Diclofenac must be replaced by meloxicam for veterinary use as soon as possible and there are many things that government can do to speed this up."
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This communication is part of an informational campaign that examines the many different ways by which a journal can influence the world. It seeks to expand the debate on impact beyond the limited and some would argue, outdated, meaning of the impact factor alone.