Scope of the journal :

Physics Education publishes papers that meets the interests of college and university physics teachers and students. Prospective authors should read recent issues of the journal (volumes 1 to 27 in print format and at physedu.in from volume 28 onwards) to determine the appropriateness of a possible contribution. Technical correctness is necessary, but it is not the only condition for acceptance. In addition, originality of the work, clarity of exposition and potential interest of the readers are important considerations. If you are prospective author, read further on to understand what would constitute a suitable contribution for Physics Education.

Starting from volume 28 (year 2012) the journal began publishing in the e-format on the internet and the paper submission and editorial processing operations went online. While more features appropriate to digital medium will gradually evolve, the basic principles of the journal will continue to remain the same as before. As before, Physics Education will always publish articles based on the merits of their content and does not discriminate based on nation of origin, racial and other extraneous considerations.

Editorial processing timeline and funding sources :

Typically, it takes about 3-4 weeks for the first referee comments to be communicated to the authors. From the time of submission to ultimate publication, it can take about 3-5 months depending on referee's and editor's timelines and number of papers in the queue.

Further, Physics Education is funded by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, Government of India and is supported by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune and the Indian Association for Physics Teachers. Hence, we do not charge any publication or article processing charges.

Starting from Volume 28 the journal went online completely and the paper submission and editorial processing are being done on line. We hope that more features appropriate to digital medium will gradually evolve.

What would constitute a suitable contribution :

Contributions should treat subjects of value and interest to physics teachers and students. They should significantly aid the learning of physics and not be primarily a display of cleverness and erudition. Highly specialized contributions are not encouraged. Topics from all fields of physics and neighboring disciplines are appropriate, but the mere solution of another physical problem, of which there are many, seldom constitutes an acceptable contribution.

The Journal is particularly interested in manuscripts that can be used to bring contemporary research in physics and related fields into the classroom. Such manuscripts should not be review articles, but rather self-contained articles that describe a particular piece of research in such a way that it is accessible to as many physicists as possible. Pedagogical value can be added to all articles by including suggested problems or projects for students. Examples include problems with analytical solutions, computational exercises and simulations, analysis of experimental data, or other activities. Making connections between research and standard topics in physics courses is encouraged. Manuscripts of historical, philosophical, and cultural value to physicists are also encouraged. Manuscripts describing novel approaches to laboratory and classroom instruction are appropriate, provided that the new methods are of general interest and can be successfully transferred to other settings. Shorter communications describing new instructional laboratory techniques and demonstration and laboratory apparatus are also acceptable.

Manuscripts announcing major theoretical or experimental results, or manuscripts questioning well-established and successful theories, are not acceptable and should be submitted to an appropriate physics research journals elsewhere for critical evaluation. If a manuscript is otherwise acceptable as a contribution, the inclusion of new results is not an insurmountable barrier to publication. Nevertheless, authors of such manuscripts should consider carefully whether Physics Education is the appropriate journal for presenting their results. Manuscripts describing original research that clarifies past misunderstandings or allows a broader view of a subject are acceptable. Manuscripts that demonstrate new relations between apparently unrelated areas of physics are appropriate. Manuscripts that show new ways of understanding, demonstrating, or deriving familiar results are also acceptable. Such manuscripts must provide some original physical insight

Occasionally, review or tutorial articles are published, often of a length greater than that of the average article. Most of these articles are solicited, and thus authors planning such articles are asked to consult with the editors at an early stage.

Most readers of a particular article will not be specialists in the subject matter presented, and therefore the context within which the paper is presented should be established in the introductory paragraphs and not relegated to the references. Manuscripts must be technically correct and must take proper cognizance of previous work on the same subject regardless of where it may have appeared. Such referencing is especially important for reminders of once well-known ideas, proofs, or techniques that may have again become useful to physics teachers and students. It is the responsibility of the author to provide adequate references. Editors and reviewers will not do the literature search that should have been done by the authors.

Contributions considered include: Regular Articles (Papers), Notes (Notes and Comments), Physics through Teaching Labs, Physics through Problem solving, Physics through Computation, articles for the Physics Education Research Section, and Letters to the Editor. Notes are short communications that are usually confined to the discussion of a single concept, or comments on published articles, and need not have abstracts. Physics through Teaching Labs section contains brief papers reporting new equipment, techniques, or materials of interest to physics teachers. Physics through Problem solving sections aims to propagate the culture of learning through problem solving correcting a prevailing lacuna in many teaching programs. Letters are selected for their expected interest for readers. They must be brief and may be edited, subject to the author's approval.

Disciplined significant controversy has a proper place in the Journal, but extended, diffuse argumentation does not. To encourage the former and discourage the latter, the editors will forward to authors any communications received that are critical of their published work. Authors and critics are then asked to correspond directly with one another. If after this correspondence, a significant conclusion has been reached, they are encouraged to prepare a brief joint note. If such an agreement should prove impossible, two separate notes might be published. When such notes are judged to be useful to the readers, they will be published in the Notes section of the Journal. A response will be published only if it makes a significant addition to the discussion.

How to submit manuscript :
Manuscripts can be submitted by visiting the manuscript submission page.

Instructions and helpful software for manuscript preparation.