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Ask everyONE: Timeline for papers appearing in PubMed Central

Jen Laloup Ask EveryONE Manuscript submission and peer review system PLoS Editorial Manager

In recent weeks, we’ve seen an increased number of questions from authors of recently published papers querying us about why their paper isn’t found in PubMed.  So this week, I thought it would be helpful to address the timeline for articles appearing in PubMed and PubMed Central.

Upon the publication of your paper, your files are sent directly to PubMed Central. At this point, it takes an average of 3-5 days to appear in PubMed Central, and 1-1/2 to 2 weeks to appear in PubMed. These delays are due to internal quality control checks and data processing that PubMed Central and PubMed conduct on the files.

To find answers to more commonly asked questions please check out our Most Common Questions page. If you have a more immediate question though, please contact us directly at plosone [at] plos.org.

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