Scope
Physical Review Letters publishes short, high-impact research across all branches of physics, including condensed matter, atomic and molecular physics, plasma physics, particle and nuclear physics, gravitation, astrophysics, and nonlinear dynamics. The journal focuses on concise reports of significant new results, novel techniques, and theoretical advances of broad interest to the physics community.
What it costs to publish
Reported: Optional open access: USD 4,140
Charges differ by publication route. Subscription is not open access; the APC does not include every possible extra charge.
USD 4,140
Source-linked report, not independently confirmed. Research notes (English): 2026 list price for this hybrid journal. APC is fixed at submission, including transfers. Editorials, comments, and corrections have no APC. CC BY.
Basis / unit: per article. Tax terms (source language): Not stated.
No charge reported for this route
Source-linked report, not independently confirmed. Research notes (English): Hybrid. No required fee to publish under the traditional model. Print ISSN 0031-9007; online ISSN 1079-7114.
Basis / unit: per article. Tax terms (source language): Not stated.
No charge reported for this route
Source-linked report, not independently confirmed. Research notes (English): SCOAP3 covers OA in PRL for qualifying articles based on arXiv category, at no author cost.
Basis / unit: per qualifying high-energy-physics article. Tax terms (source language): Not stated.
USD 830
Source-linked report, not independently confirmed. Research notes (English): Optional page charge to help defray expenses. Comment or Reply: 310 USD. Payment is not required for publication.
Basis / unit: per Letter. Tax terms (source language): Not stated.
USD 1,090
Source-linked report, not independently confirmed. Research notes (English): Each additional print color figure is 595 USD. Request at submission. Full payment before production; if unpaid within 21 working days the figures stay color online only. Contact payments@aps.org.
Basis / unit: first color figure in print. Tax terms (source language): Not stated.
No charge reported for this route
Source-linked report, not independently confirmed. Research notes (English): Color figures are free online.
Basis / unit: per article. Tax terms (source language): Not stated.
No agreement found
None of the agreements we track covers this journal.
Check before submitting: eligibility depends on your institution, the corresponding author and the article type.
APC, page charges, over-length, S2O: what each one means
- APC
- Article processing charge: a fee per article to publish it open access. It is not the whole cost.
- Page charges
- A fee per printed or typeset page. It can apply with or without an APC.
- Over-length
- Pages beyond a length limit, billed at a different rate. Each page pays one rate, never both.
- S2O
- Subscribe to Open: subscribers keep the journal free to read, decided year by year. Page charges can still apply.
- Agreement
- A deal between an institution or country and a publisher that may cover the APC. Never automatic.
No funds to pay?
Research checked: 2026-10-13Waivers and funding: eligibility is not guaranteed.
- Source-linked policyResearch notes (English), not independently confirmed: Submitting corresponding author doing research in one of more than 115 lower-income countries and territories in the APS program. Automatic. This country rule does not decide eligibility for any named author, funder, or CAPES status. Identified at submission. Eligibility queries must reach help@aps.org no later than submission. Automatic identification; email only for eligibility queries. Gold OA APC. APS provides no other discounts or waivers for this journal. The financial-need reduction of up to 20% applies only to Physical Review Physics Education Research. Optional page charge and print color are separate.Publisher policy ↗
Read the publisher terms before submitting. Source-linked research is not a personal quotation or confirmed eligibility.