Journal profile · Optics
Physical Review A
ISSN 1050-2947 · eISSN 2469-9934 · American Physical Society · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 1990
Physical Review A: CAS Zone 2 · Physics & Astronomy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.95; hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,675; review about 2.1 months (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 2,953 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Physical Review A is published by American Physical Society and is in Zone 2 of Physics & Astronomy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Quantum Information and Cryptography, Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates and Atomic and Molecular Physics, together about 32.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
8 September, 2026Because ideal Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) states are invariant under stabilizers, researchers often assume that measuring a state’s stabilizers directly quantifies its closeness to an ideal GKP state. In fact, the author shows that high stabilizer expectation values only provide an upper bound on proximity, and that states far from an ideal GKP state can still yield excellent stabilizer expectation values.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Optics
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 10%); most named United States 12, Mainland China 4, Germany 4, Italy 3, Spain 3 (41 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Quantum Information and CryptographyComputer Science12.4%
- Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein CondensatesPhysics and Astronomy11.4%
- Atomic and Molecular PhysicsPhysics and Astronomy8.7%
- Advanced Chemical Physics StudiesPhysics and Astronomy6.7%
- Quantum Mechanics and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy6.5%
- Quantum optics and atomic interactionsPhysics and Astronomy6.4%
- Quantum Computing Algorithms and ArchitectureComputer Science5.2%
- Laser-Matter Interactions and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy4.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
INSPECPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 2.95LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.91LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher)
- 0.91Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.9LetPub ·
- h-index
- 237LetPub ·
- h-index
- 457OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 64,578OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.96OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 23.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 10.24%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 2,583LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,579Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 768,709Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 101,119 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,206 | 1,037 | 698 |
| 2025 | 2,953 | 1,445 | 7,075 |
| 2024 | 2,567 | 1,291 | 15,123 |
| 2023 | 2,145 | 1,313 | 19,829 |
| 2022 | 2,415 | 1,647 | 27,835 |
| 2021 | 2,339 | 1,776 | 36,636 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 2.1 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 2,675 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Open access
- AI use American Physical Society releases updated AI policy for APS journals17 June, 2026
The policy allows authors and reviewers to use AI tools and establishes boundaries to preserve human oversight and accountability.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
At the core of APS's mission is a commitment to meeting the needs of physicists, a community that has been at the leading edge of open access. As a result, APS supports a variety of sustainable access options: Authors can pay an article publication charge (APC) to make accepted manuscripts immediately accessible on publication under a CC-BY (4.0 International) license. In keeping with APS's commun…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- American Physical Society
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1990
- ISSN
- 1050-2947
- Electronic ISSN
- 2469-9934
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 114 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Physical Review A
What CAS zone is Physical Review A in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Physical Review A is in Zone 2 of Physics & Astronomy, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical / Optics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Physics & Astronomy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Physical Review A?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.95; CiteScore 4.9, h-index 457.
How long does peer review take at Physical Review A?
Authors report an average review time of about 2.1 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Where are the editorial board members of Physical Review A based?
Of the 41 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 10%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (12), Mainland China (4) and Germany (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Physical Review A?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Physical Review A is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists INSPEC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Physical Review A open access, and what is the APC?
Physical Review A is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,675.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .