''Journal of the Physical Society of Japan'' (''JPSJ'') is a monthly,

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed,

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

published by the

Physical Society of Japan The Physical Society of Japan (JPS; 日本物理学会 in Japanese) is the organisation of physicists in Japan. There are about 16,000 members, including university professors, researchers as well as educators, and engineers. The origins of the JP ...

(JPS). It was first published in July 1946 (volume 1). The editor-in-chief was A. Kawabata until August 2010. The

impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as i ...

for ''JPSJ'' in 2017 is 1.485, according to

Journal Citation Reports ''Journal Citation Reports'' (''JCR'') is an annual publicationby Clarivate Analytics (previously the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters). It has been integrated with the Web of Science and is accessed from the Web of Science-Core Collect ...

. Volume 1 consists of a single issue designated, on the cover, from July to December 1946. And between 1967-1980 this journal published at a rate of two volumes per year. The other (Japanese) title for this journal is ''Nihon Butsuri Gakkai ōji hōkoku''. Volumes for 1967 to the present day are accompanied by an annual supplement. Research paper formats include full papers, letters, short notes, comments, addenda, errata, invited papers and special topics.

Organizational structure

The organizational structure of the journal is described as follows: The ''Full Papers'', ''Letters'' and ''Short Notes'' sections of the journal comprise the published original research results. Furthermore, the ''Full Papers'' section is intended to be self-contained, original research papers. The ''Short Notes'' are brief reporting on recent breakthroughs. Finally, invited reviews from a notable researcher in the field, and a collection of relevant subjects under Special Topics are occasionally included for publication. All articles are published online in advance, before they are printed on paper. The online version of JPSJ is updated twice a month (on the 10th and 25th). The paper version of JPSJ is printed once per month (on the 15th). This version comprises the two groups of articles that are published online on two different dates.

Overview

The journal was established in 1946, succeeding its predecessor publication, ''Proceedings of the Physico-Mathematical Society of Japan''. In its present state, ''JPSJ'' is an international journal, with submissions from authors worldwide. Additionally, financial support is available to those authors in need from developing countries. The online version has allowed for notable extra information to be available. Certain significant works are selected and emphasized on the journals' homepage. In the News and Comments column the background and impact of selected researchers are discussed by those who are described as experts, which indirectly provides the added dimension of relevant information about recent developments in physics.

Scope

The main focus of ''JPSJ'' is all topics related to physics. This includes pure and applied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

research topics which encompass core physics disciplines, and broad topical coverage that is related to these core disciplines. Hence, subject areas cover an exploration and investigation of nature and substances that exist in the world and the universe, from

atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

ic to

cosmological Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

scales. This encompasses defining and describing observations, interactions, and forces which occur in nature and, hence, in substances. Such descriptions may include their effect on, or within, a given natural system. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves. Therefore, subject areas encompass

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

, forces,

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic partic ...

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of a ...

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

and

general theory of relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric scientific theory, theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current descr ...

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...

begins his ''Lectures'' with the

atomic hypothesis Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. Atomic theory traces its origins to an ancient philosophical tradition known as atomism. According to this idea, if one were to take a lump of matter an ...

, as his most compact statement of all scientific knowledge: "If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations ..., what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is ... that ''all things are made up of atoms – little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another. ...''" LCCN = 63020717(click on title)

Previous and current IF

Thomson Reuters, Journal Citation Reports rated ''JPSJ'' with an impact factor of 2.212 in 2008, and an impact factor of 2.572 in 2009.

Abstracting and indexing

''Journal of the Physical Society of Japan'' is indexed in the following bibliographic databases: *

Chemical Abstracts CAS (formerly Chemical Abstracts Service) is a division of the American Chemical Society. It is a source of chemical information. CAS is located in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Print periodicals ''Chemical Abstracts'' is a periodical index tha ...

0009-2258 *

Chemical Abstracts Service CAS (formerly Chemical Abstracts Service) is a division of the American Chemical Society. It is a source of chemical information. CAS is located in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Print periodicals ''Chemical Abstracts'' is a periodical index tha ...

- CASSI *

Current Contents ''Current Contents'' is a rapid alerting service database from Clarivate Analytics, formerly the Institute for Scientific Information and Thomson Reuters. It is published online and in several different printed subject sections. History ''Cur ...

- Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences *

Science Citation Index The Science Citation Index Expanded – previously entitled Science Citation Index – is a citation index originally produced by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and created by Eugene Garfield. It was officially launched in 1964 and ...

* Science Citation Index Expanded

References