Infrastructure
· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.BRedirect Chain2 redirect(s), 394 ms totalREVIEW
https://plosone.org
59 ms · HTTP/1.1
https://journals.plos.org/plosone
182 ms · HTTP/1.1
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/
152 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL
| # | URL | Status | Time | Protocol | Server |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | https://plosone.org | 301 | 59 ms | HTTP/1.1 | cloudflare |
| 2 | https://journals.plos.org/plosone | 302 | 182 ms | HTTP/1.1 | Apache |
| 3 | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ | 200 | 152 ms | HTTP/1.1 | Apache |
See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →
Each redirect adds latency. Try to minimize the chain to 1 hop.
Redirect chain — each hop adds latency; combine into one redirect where possible.
Source: Google Search Central / web.dev
If permanent, use 301 instead.
302 (Found) is for genuinely temporary redirects — if this redirect is permanent, switch to 301 to preserve SEO equity.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Search engines treat 302 as temporary, keeping the original URL indexed and not transferring full link equity to the destination. Use 301 (Moved Permanently) for permanent redirects (HTTP→HTTPS, www-vs-non-www, URL restructures).
Source: Google Search Central
CCrawlabilityActionrobots.txt present, sitemap with 0 URLsREVIEW
Search engines may not be able to parse the sitemap. Fix XML validation errors.
An unparseable sitemap is silently ignored by Google — the URLs it advertises are never queued for crawl.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Google's sitemap parser is strict about XML validity. A single unescaped `&` or unclosed tag invalidates the whole file. Run your sitemap through a validator (Search Console's Sitemaps report flags it) and fix the offending entry. Most generators escape correctly; mistakes usually come from manually-written entries.
Source: sitemaps.org / Google Search Central
An empty sitemap provides no value. Add <url> entries for your pages.
An empty sitemap signals 'no content to index' to Google — actively harmful versus having no sitemap at all.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Google compares URLs in the sitemap against URLs it has crawled. An empty sitemap on a site with thousands of pages signals abandonment. Either populate it correctly (most CMSes auto-generate) or delete the file and let Google crawl normally.
Source: Google Search Central / sitemaps.org
Add a 'Sitemap:' directive to robots.txt so search engines can discover your sitemap.
robots.txt omits Sitemap: directive — crawlers must fetch /sitemap.xml by convention; reliable but missing the explicit hint.
Source: sitemaps.org
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
lang="en" xml:lang="en"
itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article"
class="no-js">
<head prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns#">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/resource/css/home.css?460ce76d110431694cece1ea536cc950"/>
<!-- allows for extra head tags -->
<!-- hello -->
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:400,400i,600">
<link media="print" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/resource/css/print.css"/>
<script type="text/javascript">
var siteUrlPrefix = "/plosone/";
</script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/modernizr-v2.7.1.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/detectizr.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/resource/img/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"/>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
<script type="text/javascript">
var WombatConfig = WombatConfig || {};
WombatConfig.journalKey = "PLoSONE";
WombatConfig.journalName = "PLOS One";
WombatConfig.figurePath = "/plosone/article/figure/image";
WombatConfig.figShareInstitutionString = "plos";
WombatConfig.doiResolverPrefix = "https://dx.plos.org/";
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
var WombatConfig = WombatConfig || {};
WombatConfig.metrics = WombatConfig.metrics || {};
WombatConfig.metrics.referenceUrl = "http://lagotto.io/plos";
WombatConfig.metrics.googleScholarUrl = "https://scholar.google.com/scholar";
WombatConfig.metrics.googleScholarCitationUrl = WombatConfig.metrics.googleScholarUrl + "?hl=en&lr=&q=";
WombatConfig.metrics.crossrefUrl = "https://www.crossref.org";
</script>
<script defer="defer" src="/resource/js/defer.js?7a7aa422bfb89c594626"></script><script src="/resource/js/sync.js?7a7aa422bfb89c594626"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/fastclick/lib/fastclick.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/foundation/foundation.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/underscore-min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/underscore.string.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/moment.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/jquery-ui-effects.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/foundation/foundation.tooltip.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/foundation/foundation.dropdown.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/foundation/foundation.tab.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/foundation/foundation.reveal.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/foundation/foundation.slider.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/util/utils.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/components/toggle.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/components/truncate_elem.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/components/tooltip_hover.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/resource/js/vendor/jquery.dotdotdot.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<!-- DoubleClick overall ad setup script -->
<script type='text/javascript'>
var googletag = googletag || {};
googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || [];
if (window.plosCookieConsent?.hasConsented('advertising')) {
(function() {
var gads = document.createElement('script');
gads.async = true;
gads.type = 'text/javascript';
var useSSL = 'https:' == document.location.protocol;
gads.src = (useSSL ? 'https:' : 'http:') +
'//www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js';
var node = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
node.parentNode.insertBefore(gads, node);
})();
}
</script>
<!-- DoubleClick ad slot setup script -->
<script id="doubleClickSetupScript" type='text/javascript'>
googletag.cmd.push(function() {
googletag.defineSlot('/75507958/PONE_728x90_ATF', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1458247671871-0').addService(googletag.pubads());
googletag.defineSlot('/75507958/PONE_160x600_BTF', [160, 600], 'div-gpt-ad-1458247671871-1').addService(googletag.pubads());
googletag.defineSlot('/75507958/PONE_300x250_ITB1', [300, 250], 'div-gpt-ad-1458247671871-2').addService(googletag.pubads());
googletag.defineSlot('/75507958/PONE_300x250_ITB2', [300, 250], 'div-gpt-ad-1458247671871-3').addService(googletag.pubads());
googletag.defineSlot('/75507958/PONE_300x250_ITB3', [300, 250], 'div-gpt-ad-1458247671871-4').addService(googletag.pubads());
googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest();
googletag.enableServices();
});
</script>
<!--For Google Tag manager to be able to track site information -->
<script>
dataLayer = [{
'mobileSite': 'false',
'desktopSite': 'true'
}];
</script>
<title>PLOS One</title>
<!-- for lemur -->
<script>
$(document).ready(()=> {
let lemurTitle = $('article > h1').text();
if (lemurTitle && lemurTitle != '') {
$('title').text(lemurTitle + ' | ' + 'PLOS One');
}
});
</script>
</head>
<body class="home plosone">
<div id="test"></div>
<!-- Google Tag Manager -->
<noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-TP26BH"
height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>
<script>
(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':
new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src=
'//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);
})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-TP26BH');
</script>
<noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-MQQMGF"
height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>
<script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':
new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src=
'//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);
})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-MQQMGF');</script>
<!-- End Google Tag Manager -->
<!-- Start of HubSpot Embed Code -->
<script>
// from https://developers.hubspot.com/docs/reference/api/analytics-and-events/cookie-banner/cookie-banner-api#example-using-a-third-party-cookie-banner-to-control-hubspot-cookies
window.disableHubSpotCookieBanner = true;
window._hsp = window._hsp || [];
window._hsp.push(['setHubSpotConsent',
{
analytics: window.plosCookieConsent?.hasConsented('analytics'),
advertisement: window.plosCookieConsent?.hasConsented('advertising'),
functionality: window.plosCookieConsent?.hasConsented('functionality')
}
]);
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" id="hs-script-loader" async defer src="//js.hs-scripts.com/44092021.js"></script>
<!-- End of HubSpot Embed Code -->
<!-- New Relic -->
<script type="text/javascript">
;window.NREUM||(NREUM={});NREUM.init={distributed_tracing:{enabled:true},privacy:{cookies_enabled:true},ajax:{deny_list:["bam.nr-data.net"]}};
window.NREUM||(NREUM={}),__nr_require=function(t,e,n){function r(n){if(!e[n]){var o=e[n]={exports:{}};t[n][0].call(o.exports,function(e){var o=t[n][1][e];return r(o||e)},o,o.exports)}return e[n].exports}if("function"==typeof __nr_require)return __nr_require;for(var o=0;o<n.length;o++)r(n[o]);return r}({1:[function(t,e,n){function r(t){try{s.console&&console.log(t)}catch(e){}}var o,i=t("ee"),a=t(32),s={};try{o=localStorage.getItem("__nr_flags").split(","),console&&"function"==typeof console.log&&(s.console=!0,o.indexOf("dev")!==-1&&(s.dev=!0),o.indexOf("nr_dev")!==-1&&(s.nrDev=!0))}catch(c){}s.nrDev&&i.on("internal-error",function(t){r(t.stack)}),s.dev&&i.on("fn-err",function(t,e,n){r(n.stack)}),s.dev&&(r("NR AGENT IN DEVELOPMENT MODE"),r("flags: "+a(s,function(t,e){return t}).join(", ")))},{}],2:[function(t,e,n){function r(t,e,n,r,s){try{l?l-=1:o(s||new UncaughtException(t,e,n),!0)}catch(f){try{i("ierr",[f,c.now(),!0])}catch(d){}}return"function"==typeof u&&u.apply(this,a(arguments))}function UncaughtException(t,e,n){this.message=t||"Uncaught error with no additional information",this.sourceURL=e,this.line=n}function o(t,e){var n=e?null:c.now();i("err",[t,n])}var i=t("handle"),a=t(33),s=t("ee"),c=t("loader"),f=t("gos"),u=window.onerror,d=!1,p="nr@seenError";if(!c.disabled){var l=0;c.features.err=!0,t(1),window.onerror=r;try{throw new Error}catch(h){"stack"in h&&(t(14),t(13),"addEventListener"in window&&t(7),c.xhrWrappable&&t(15),d=!0)}s.on("fn-start",function(t,e,n){d&&(l+=1)}),s.on("fn-err",function(t,e,n){d&&!n[p]&&(f(n,p,function(){return!0}),this.thrown=!0,o(n))}),s.on("fn-end",function(){d&&!this.thrown&&l>0&&(l-=1)}),s.on("internal-error",function(t){i("ierr",[t,c.now(),!0])})}},{}],3:[function(t,e,n){var r=t("loader");r.disabled||(r.features.ins=!0)},{}],4:[function(t,e,n){function r(){U++,L=g.hash,this[u]=y.now()}function o(){U--,g.hash!==L&&i(0,!0);var t=y.now();this[h]=~~this[h]+t-this[u],this[d]=t}function i(t,e){E.emit("newURL",[""+g,e])}function a(t,e){t.on(e,function(){this[e]=y.now()})}var s="-start",c="-end",f="-body",u="fn"+s,d="fn"+c,p="cb"+s,l="cb"+c,h="jsTime",m="fetch",v="addEventListener",w=window,g=w.location,y=t("loader");if(w[v]&&y.xhrWrappable&&!y.disabled){var x=t(11),b=t(12),E=t(9),R=t(7),O=t(14),T=t(8),P=t(15),S=t(10),M=t("ee"),N=M.get("tracer"),C=t(23);t(17),y.features.spa=!0;var L,U=0;M.on(u,r),b.on(p,r),S.on(p,r),M.on(d,o),b.on(l,o),S.on(l,o),M.buffer([u,d,"xhr-resolved"]),R.buffer([u]),O.buffer(["setTimeout"+c,"clearTimeout"+s,u]),P.buffer([u,"new-xhr","send-xhr"+s]),T.buffer([m+s,m+"-done",m+f+s,m+f+c]),E.buffer(["newURL"]),x.buffer([u]),b.buffer(["propagate",p,l,"e
BTLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations47 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to addressREVIEW
Certificate validity
Recommended actions
- Enable HSTS: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
- Enable DNSSEC on your domain for DNS spoofing protection
- Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy
BCDN & DeliveryCloudflareREVIEW
A+DNS Records2 A records, 41 ms lookupPASS
| A | 104.21.81.174, 172.67.163.41 |
| AAAA | 2606:4700:3031::6815:51ae, 2606:4700:3030::ac43:a329 |
| CNAME | — |
| NS | paloma.ns.cloudflare.com, chad.ns.cloudflare.com |
| MX | — |
| TXT | — |
| CAA | Lookup not available with standard resolver |
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.
SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.
Without SPF, receiving servers can't validate sending IPs — your domain is easier to spoof in phishing.
Learn more ▾ ▴
SPF complements DMARC. Both should be published. SPF records list authorized sending IPs (e.g., `v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all` for Google Workspace). After publishing, verify in Google Postmaster Tools or mxtoolbox.
Source: RFC 7208 (SPF)
A+IPv6 ReadinessIPv6 reachable (17 ms)PASS
A+URL Variantswww/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPSPASS
www / non-www
Preferred variant: non-www
HTTP → HTTPS
Consistent
ADomain Intelligenceplosone.org — via Cloudflare, Inc., 21 years, 2 months oldPASS
EXPIRED
June 10, 2026
47 days
Issued by Google Trust Services
21 years, 2 months
Registered June 10, 2005
Not enabled
Protects against DNS spoofing
Unknown
2606:4700:3030::ac43:a329
Cloudflare, Inc.
Expiry timeline
Recommended actions
- Domain has EXPIRED — renew immediately to avoid total site outage
- Enable DNSSEC to protect visitors from DNS spoofing
- Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
Consider enabling auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiration.
Domain expiry approaching — renew immediately and ensure auto-renew + alerting are configured.
Source: ICANN renewal policy
DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
Without DNSSEC, an attacker who can poison your DNS can hijack your domain — and SSL certs alone don't stop them.
Learn more ▾ ▴
DNSSEC adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records, preventing forged responses from poisoning resolver caches. Without it, an attacker who controls the network path can redirect your domain to a malicious server before any HTTPS handshake happens. Most modern registrars (Cloudflare, Google Domains, Route 53) enable it with one toggle.
Source: ICANN / RFC 4033
The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.
Without registrar lock, an attacker who phishes your registrar credentials can transfer the domain in minutes — total brand hijack.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited) requires extra verification before any transfer/update/delete. Every major registrar offers it free. Combined with 2FA on your registrar account, it's the strongest defense against domain hijacking.
Source: ICANN / domain-security best practice