The American Physical Society (APS), through the Physical Review journals it publishes, aims to offer open access options that meet the needs of all authors across the research communities it serves.
APS launched its first fully open access journal in 1998. In early 2011 APS transformed some of the largest, most-cited, and most-trusted peer-reviewed, primary research titles in physics into hybrid journals by offering authors an option to publish individual articles open access. Since then it has expanded the options it offers authors by launching a number of new hybrid and gold open access titles, including the highest-impact open access journal in physics, Physical Review X (PRX), and the related family of topical journals, such as PRX Energy and PRX Quantum.
Open access manuscripts are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY), which permits authors and others to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work, provided that proper credit is given. Articles are made immediately open access under a CC-BY 4.0 International license in hybrid and fully gold open access journals upon payment of an article publication charge (APC) by the author, or the author’s institution or funder.
The below APCs apply for publishing gold open access. Fees are covered centrally for any authors publishing under our institutional open access agreements or SCOAP3, and do not apply for editorials, comments and corrections. APCs are also indicated during the submission process.
| Journal Title | Journal Type | 2026 APC (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| APS Open Science | gold open access | $1,750 |
| Physical Review Letters | hybrid | $4140 |
| Physical Review X | gold open access | $4685 |
| PRX Life | gold open access | $3105 |
| PRX Energy | gold open access | $3105 |
| PRX Quantum | gold open access | $3590 |
| PRX Intelligence | gold open access | *$0 - Introductory promotion, no APCs through the end of 2026. |
| Reviews of Modern Physics | subscription | n/a, no gold open access option |
| Physical Review A | hybrid | $2910 |
| Physical Review B | hybrid | $2910 |
| Physical Review C | hybrid | $2910 |
| Physical Review D | hybrid | $2910 |
| Physical Review E | hybrid | $2910 |
| Physical Review Research | gold open access | $2910 |
| Physical Review Accelerators and Beams | diamond open access | $0 - No APCs; sponsored |
| Physical Review Applied | hybrid | $2910 |
| Physical Review Fluids | hybrid | $2910 |
| Physical Review Materials | hybrid | $2910 |
| Physical Review Physics Education Research | gold open access | $2295 |
Please note that the APC for any article is set at the point of submission to the specific journal that it is published in. This includes articles that are transferred.
APS offers generous APC waivers to submitting corresponding authors doing research in over 115 lower-income countries and territories.
Find out more about our waiver program.
For authors of articles published in Physical Review Physics Education Research, APS offers up to 20% reduction of the APC, provided authors can demonstrate financial need at the time of submission.
APS does not currently provide other discounts or waivers. Any queries regarding eligibility for a waiver must be sent to help@aps.org no later than the point of article submission.
*PRX Intelligence APC waiver - PRX Intelligence is a highly selective, fully open access journal for impactful research in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) that advances the physical sciences and related fields. It is intentionally multidisciplinary and highly visible, publishing both foundational AI/ML work and domain-driven applications spanning physics as well as computer science and mathematics, materials science and engineering, chemistry and biology, earth and environmental sciences. The journal will begin receiving submissions in February 2026, and article publication charges (APCs) will be waived for manuscripts submitted before 1 January 2027.
APS piloted its first Transformative Agreements in 2020. These Read and Publish Agreements bundle together two services valued by researchers – read access to all the Physical Review Journals, plus institutional open access publishing – and offset library subscription costs with credits towards open access publishing. APS continues to invest in improving the operational infrastructure that supports open access agreements, and is grateful to a number of trusted library partners for their open collaboration and cooperation towards further developing this program in support of increasing high-quality and sustainable open access options for the researchers we collectively serve. Please review the details of these agreements.
APS participates in the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3) initiative, enabling high-energy physics articles published in Physical Review Letters, Physical Review C, and Physical Review D to be published open access without cost to authors based on their arXiv category.
Find out more about this initiative and how to participate.