Thematic Journal Clubs at PLoS ONE

I liked the idea at PLoS ONE to have a thematic focus each month to assess how well the journal is doing in that particular area. This is gauged most often with the help of statistics obtained from Google Analytics on page views related to each article in that category and the most accessed article is highlighted on the main page of the journal. At this stage PLoS ONE receives from the authors of the article their comments on the editorial processes and their feelings on seeing the article fetching community attention/response. Also, the article receives at this occasion additional comments from experts and young scientists in the academia through PLoS ONE's unique discussion and response forum with ratings and annotations. This can effectively catalyze community engagement through PLoS ONE Journal Clubs (JCs). Such JCs involve groups of scientists, post docs and graduate students who volunteer to discuss PLoS ONE articles and post their discussions as a series of questions, comments, annotations, and ratings eventually triggering discussions within a broader scientific community.