Springer and the Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU), the organization that represents most of the earth and planetary science societies in Japan, have launched the new open access journal Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (PEPS). The first articles have already been published online. The peer-reviewed online journal is part of the SpringerOpen portfolio. All articles are freely and permanently accessible on Springer’s platforms SpringerLink (www.link.springer.com) and SpringerOpen (www.springeropen.com).
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science covers a variety of topics ranging from the pursuit of purely scientific subjects, such as the origin of human life and the formation of the solar system, to practical applications, such as weather forecasting and the establishment of a resilient society. The new journal is named after the research fields that are covered by the JpGU. The word ‘Science’ in the title was left in the singular to emphasize the overall unity of the field.
In addition to publishing high-quality research papers, PEPS particularly aims to promote the publication of review articles that provide an opportunity for scientists to read organized descriptions and summaries of the latest systematic developments. The intention is for review articles in PEPS to fill the gap between a scientific paper and a book. Thus, it will be a useful educational resource for the worldwide geoscience community, for instance by forming the basis for university seminars. Additional files to enrich the content, videos, animations, and large original data can be published along with articles.
The JpGU expects that PEPS will function alongside the many specialist journals as a first-rate platform for the publication of high-quality articles that comprehensively cover all the branches of earth and planetary sciences including space and planetary sciences; atmospheric and hydrospheric sciences; human geosciences; solid sciences; and biogeosciences. The systems that earth and planetary scientists study are very complicated and their phenomena have many different aspects: multidimensional research is vital to gain an understanding of the current state of these systems, explaining their past and predicting their future.
Professor Yasufumi Iryu of Tohoku University, General Chief Editor, said “We are confident thatPEPS will be attractive to both researchers and students, and we would very much like to ask scientists from all over the world to submit their scientific achievements to our new journal.”
”We are honored to have been chosen by the Japan Geoscience Union for this new project. Our strong international publishing programs in the earth and planetary science fields will be further enhanced by the publication of PEPS. We look forward to helping our new partner further their important work,” said Takeyuki Yonezawa, Editorial Director Physical Sciences and Engineering at Springer Japan.
