PLOS Computational Biology features works of exceptional significance that further our understanding of living systems at all scales—from molecules and cells, to patient populations and ecosystems—through the application of computational methods including applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Readers include life and computational scientists, who can take the important findings presented here to the next level of discovery. Research articles model all aspects of biological systems and demonstrate novel scientific advances, through the introduction of novel methods, software, or tools, or through the application of computational methods to provide profound new biological insights. Research articles must be declared as belonging to a relevant section. More information about the sections can be found in the submission guidelines. PLOS Computational Biology publishes three types of research articles: Research, Methods, and Software. Articles specifically designated as Methods or Software papers should describe outstanding new methods or software of exceptional importance that can provide new biological insights. The method or software must have the potential for being widely adopted by a broad community of users. Enhancements to existing published methods or software will only be considered if those enhancements bring exceptional new capabilities. Generally, reliability and significance of biological discovery through computation should be validated and enriched by experimental studies and/or application to real-world data. Inclusion of experimental validation is not required for publication, but should be referenced where possible. For all submissions, authors must clearly provide details, data, code, and software to ensure readers' ability to reproduce the models, methods, and results. The journal has data availability and code availability policies for all research articles.
