Physical Review

• 1. Founding And Early Years

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  July 1893 marked the first issue of Physical Review, a new journal organized by Cornell University professor Edward Nichols. J. Gould Schurman served as the president of Cornell at that time and helped launch the publication. The journal operated from upstate New York for twenty years under the management of Nichols, Ernest Merritt, and Frederick Bedell. These three editors produced thirty-three volumes during this initial period known as Series I. The American Physical Society did not exist when the journal began its run in 1893.

• 2. Societal Transitions And Relocations

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  The American Physical Society founded itself in 1899 before taking over publication rights in 1913. This transfer initiated Physical Review Series II while the journal remained at Cornell until 1926. G. S. Fulcher led the editorial office during those thirteen years of transition. John Torrence Tate, Sr. moved the operation to the University of Minnesota after his tenure there. Alfred Loomis anonymously paid author fees during the Great Depression to help scientists who could not afford them. Samuel Goudsmit and Simon Pasternack later appointed editors moved the office to Brookhaven National Laboratory on Eastern Long Island. E. L. Hill and J. William Buchta managed the journals on an interim basis in Minnesota following Tate's death in 1950.

• 3. Series Expansion And Specialization

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  Physical Review split into four sub-journals A through D in 1970 to handle growing research demands. A fifth member called Physical Review E arrived in 1993 to accommodate nonlinear dynamics research. The combined set formed Series III which covers specific fields like atomic physics or condensed matter. David Lazarus edited from 1980 to 1990 while based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Benjamin Bederson took the role from 1990 to 1996 at New York University. Martin Blume served as editor from 1996 to 2007 at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Gene Sprouse led the journal from 2007 to 2015 at SUNY Stony Brook. Robert Rosner began his term in March 2025 as current Editor in Chief.

• 4. Modern Digital Transformation

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  The American Physical Society launched Physical Review X as an online-only open access journal in 2014. PRX Quantum appeared in 2020 to connect quantum information science communities spanning pure science and engineering. PRX Life started in 2023 to advance interdisciplinary research between physical and life sciences. Physical Review Applied began publishing experimental and theoretical applications of physics in 2014. Fluids research gained a dedicated home with Physical Review Fluids in 2016. Materials research received coverage through Physical Review Materials starting in 2017. Authors could pay article processing charges for open access papers since 2011 under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License terms. The Special Topics journals became fully open access while others required page charges depending on manuscript format.

• 5. Editorial Leadership And Governance

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  Samuel Goudsmit retired in 1974 after leading the editorial office at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Simon Pasternack stepped down in the mid-1970s following his appointment alongside Goudsmit. George L. Trigg edited the sister journal Physical Review Letters from its introduction in July 1958 until 1988. Reviews of Modern Physics started publication in 1929 as a venue for longer review articles. A short-lived journal called Physics ran from 1964 through 1968 published by Pergamon Press and Physics Publishing Co. Four volumes of that earlier Physics journal are now freely available online under the title Physics Physique Физика. The APS copyright policy allows authors to reuse parts of published articles in derivative works including on Wikipedia.