''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences'' is a
fortnight
A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights).
Astronomy and tides
In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is ha ...
ly
peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. It publishes original research and review content in a wide range of physical scientific disciplines. Articles can be accessed online a few months prior to the printed journal. All articles become freely accessible two years after their publication date. The current
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
is
John Dainton.
Overview
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A'' publishes themed journal issues on topics of current scientific importance and general interest within the
physical,
mathematical
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
engineering sciences, edited by leading authorities and comprising original research, reviews and opinions from prominent researchers. Past issue titles include "Supercritical fluids - green solvents for green chemistry?", "Tsunamis: Bridging science, engineering and society", "Spatial transformations: from fundamentals to applications", and "Before, behind and beyond the discovery of the Higgs boson".
History
''
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...
'' was established in 1665 by the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
and is the oldest scientific journal in the English-speaking world.
Henry Oldenburg
Henry Oldenburg (also Henry Oldenbourg) FRS (c. 1618 as Heinrich Oldenburg – 5 September 1677), was a German theologian, diplomat, and natural philosopher, known as one of the creators of modern scientific peer review. He was one of the fo ...
was appointed as the first (joint) secretary to the society and he was also the first editor of the society's journal. In 1887 the journal expanded to become two separate publications, one serving the
physical sciences
Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences".
Definition
Phy ...
, ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences'', and the other focusing on the
life sciences, ''
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences''. Nowadays, both journals publish themed issues and discussion meeting issues, while individual
research articles are published in the sister journal ''
Proceedings of the Royal Society
''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905:
* Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics.
* Series B: for papers in life s ...
''.
The journal celebrated its 350th anniversary in 2015. To commemorate this event it published a special collection
of commentaries on landmark papers from the archive by scientists such as
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
,
Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...
and
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
.
Impact
According to the 2021 ''
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 Collec ...
'', the journal has an
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 ...
of 4.019.
References
External links
*
* {{Official website, http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org
Multidisciplinary scientific journals
Publications established in 1887
Biweekly journals
English-language journals
Royal Society academic journals
1887 establishments in the United Kingdom