Publication Standards and Review Procedures | Adjudication Procedures | Transfers

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Physics of Fluids, published by the American Institute of Physics with the cooperation of the American Physical Society, Division of Fluid Dynamics, is devoted to original theoretical, computational, and experimental contributions to the understanding of the dynamics of gases, liquids, and complex or multiphase fluids.

Publication Standards and Review Procedures

Physics of Fluids publishes papers containing significant new research contributions of the highest intellectual caliber. Review and editorial policy and procedures are intended to maintain Physics of Fluids as the premiere international fluid mechanics journal. The Journal publishes regular articles and Letters. Letters must meet the additional requirement of timeliness (see below). Comments on previously published papers and Errata are also published.

The Journal also occasionally publishes, after review, sets of papers on a single topic, as a special section of a regular journal issue. This includes, but is not limited to, papers presented at special conferences. Prior coordination between the conference organizers and the Editorial Office is necessary for such papers. The recipient of the Fluid Dynamics Prize, who also presents the Otto Laporte Lecture at the annual APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting, is invited to publish a written version of the award lecture. Occasionally, at the Editors’ discretion, some invited speakers at the annual meetings are also invited to submit papers based on their talks. These papers are reviewed and must meet the same standards for acceptance as papers published in regular issues.

Physics of Fluids requires that copyright be assigned to the American Institute of Physics. It is a tradition of long standing that submission to the Journal implies that the work has neither been copyrighted, nor accepted for publication elsewhere. Since copyright transfer is required before publication, electronic acceptance of the Transfer of Copyright Agreement during the submission process can prevent unnecessary delays. Physics of Fluids also requires authors to inform the editors if a paper has been previously submitted to another journal, whether or not it is currently active with that journal.

Submitted manuscripts, other than those to be considered as Letters, are assigned to and screened by one of the Editors. Letters are assigned to and screened by the Associate Editor for Letters. Manuscripts failing to meet acceptable standards of English usage, with incomplete or outdated bibliographies, or with content that is technically weak or inappropriate for the scope of the journal will generally be rejected without review.

The Editor reviews the referee reports and determines whether the paper is acceptable, requires revisions, or is rejected from further consideration. Authors are sent the referee reports and details of any editorial issues, and are given deadlines by which the revised manuscripts, with responses to the referees, must be received by the Editorial Office. When appropriate, the Editor will reject revised manuscripts that are overdue or treat them as new submissions. The revised manuscripts will normally be sent back to the referees for additional review. Generally, a paper is limited to no more than two revisions. Should the Editor feel that no progress is being made with the original referees, he may choose to send the papers to other referees or adjudicators for recommendations (see below). The final decision to accept or reject is made by the Editor. Authors may also withdraw papers at any time.

In addition to regular articles, Physics of Fluids publishes Letters. The purpose of a Letter is to provide rapid dissemination of important new results. Authors submitting a manuscript to be considered as a Letter must include a justification for rapid publication. Results of extended research should not be presented as a series of Letters in place of a comprehensive article. Ordinarily, there is a three-month time limit from date of receipt to acceptance for processing Letters. Letters cannot exceed seven printed pages in the journal.

Physics of Fluids also publishes Comments. The purpose of Comments is to correct significant errors in articles published in the Journal, to take issue with conclusions reached, or to provide additional insight or corroboration. Comments must be concise, substantive, and free of polemics. They must address scientific issues only. Comments on questions of priority or calling attention to an oversight in a reference list are discouraged. The Editor will generally invite the authors of the targeted papers to respond in print if they so desire. The Editor may decide to accept Comments and Responses, if any, for publication only after the two parties have submitted final versions of their pieces. The Editor reserves the right to send Comments and Responses to an adjudicator or to reject one or both for publication.

Physics of Fluids publishes Errata, in which authors correct significant errors of substance in their published manuscripts. Errata should be as short as is consistent with clarity.

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Adjudication Procedures

The Editor may decide to place a manuscript in adjudication under certain conditions, including, but not limited to, irreconcilable differences between the author and the referee(s), conflicting recommendations from multiple referees, or when there are serious doubts concerning the appropriateness of a manuscript for publication. The adjudicator is given all relevant correspondence (with confidentiality of the sources maintained) and the manuscript to review. The Editor makes the final decision regarding rejection or publication based on the recommendation of the adjudicator and after an in-house review of the file.

An author may appeal the Editor's decision to reject a manuscript by making a request to the Editor that the case be reviewed by the Executive Director of AIP. The Executive Director will not make direct decisions as to whether or not a paper should be accepted for publication, but rather will assess whether proper procedures were followed. Additional rounds of review or adjudication would only be called for if proper procedures were not followed.

For specific editorial format requirements and submission information, see Information for Contributors.

Transfers

If a manuscript is determined to be not suitable, and you feel it is appropriate for another AIP Journal, it is possible for the manuscript to be transferred easily within the AIP Journal family. AIP Journals and their respective descriptions can be found at http://journals.aip.org/. Carefully review the acceptance criteria for the journal you believe would be appropriate for your manuscript. If you wish to transfer your manuscript to another AIP journal, please email the editorial office. Please note that transferring manuscript files does not guarantee that the manuscript will be considered by the receiving journal. The transfer option by email is only offered to facilitate the transfer of manuscript files and correspondence without the inconvenience of having to re-enter data and resubmit files to a new journal.

Editors
(Revised October 2011)

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