American Physical Society launches APS Open Science
The American Physical Society is launching a new open access journal. With submissions opening in late February 2026, APS Open Science will “publish a diverse range of research outputs while upholding the trusted, rigorous review processes that define APS standards”.
Jessica Thomas, executive editor at APS, said: “Researchers need high-quality options for sharing reliable findings across every stage of the scientific process. APS Open Science offers an open and trusted venue built on APS’ longstanding standards for rigour, with policies that support openness, inclusion, and broad participation in physics.”
The journal will serve as a community-shaped option for:
- Fundamental and applied research articles;
- Theoretical and experimental work;
- Methodological and technical developments;
- Data and software papers;
- Replication and reproducibility studies; and
- Negative and null results.
To better support open science practices, APS Open Science aims to feature flexible article formats, rapid peer review, and efficient manuscript transfers from the Physical Review journals.
APS says its role in Purpose-Led Publishing, a coalition that promotes mission-driven publishing aligned with research community needs, also shapes the journal’s standards for openness, transparency, and research integrity.
The journal will launch with article publication charge waivers for researchers in low- and lower-middle-income countries, along with introductory discounts for all authors. It will draw on APS’ longstanding waiver program to help reduce barriers and broaden equitable participation in open access publishing.
“Equity is fundamental to open science,” said Jeff Lewandowski, director of publishing at APS. “By pairing rigorous peer review with inclusive pathways for authors, APS Open Science enables more researchers — across regions, institutions, and career stages — to participate fully in global scientific communication.”
All articles will be published under the CC BY 4.0 license, with DOIs registered via Crossref and immediate discoverability through major scholarly search engines. APS is pursuing inclusion in additional indexing services as approvals are confirmed. Author guidelines and scope details will be available on the APS journals website when submissions open in late February.