Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science

In the early 1950s, the National Research Council's Committee on Nuclear Science announced its support for an annual volume of review articles that covered recent developments in the field of nuclear science.[2] One of the key proponents of creating the journal was Alberto F. Thompson, who had previously helped establish Nuclear Science Abstracts in 1948.[3][4] The Committee on Nuclear Science consulted the nonprofit publishing company Annual Reviews for advice, and Annual Reviews agreed to publish the initial and subsequent volumes. Members of the Committee acted as the editorial board for the first volume, which was published in December 1952. Published under the title Annual Review of Nuclear Science, it covered nuclear science developments in 1950. Beginning with Volume 2, James G. Beckerley was editor, with Martin D. Kamen, Donald F. Mastick, and Leonard I. Schiff as associate editors. From Volume 3 onward, Annual Reviews assumed all responsibility for the journal from the National Research Council.[2]

In 1978, the journal's name was changed to the Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. This name was judged to be more reflective of the journal's content, which also included particle physics.[5] Under Annual Reviews's "Subscribe to Open" publishing model, it was announced that the 2020 volume of Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science would be published open access, a first for the journal.[6] As of 2020, it was published both in print and electronically.[7]

The Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science is helmed by the editor. The editor is assisted by the editorial committee, which includes associate editors, regular members, and occasionally guest editors. Guest members participate at the invitation of the editor, and serve terms of one year. All other members of the editorial committee are appointed by the Annual Reviews board of directors and serve five-year terms. The editorial committee determines which topics should be included in each volume and solicits reviews from qualified authors.[8] Unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. Peer review of accepted manuscripts is undertaken by the editorial committee.[9]

Several Nobel Prize in Physics laureates have authored publications in this journal:[10]

List of editors

Nobel laureate Emilio Segrè served as editor for twenty years

• James G. Beckerley 1953–1957
• Emilio Segrè 1958–1977[11][12]
• John David Jackson 1977–1993[13]
• Chris Quigg 1994–2004[14]
• Boris Kayser 2004–2009[15][16]
• Barry R. Holstein 2009–present[16][17]