What makes The Journal of Physical Chemistry special?
And why does it still stand strong in light of all the specialized journals that have cropped up in the past decade?
The answer is simple. The Journal of Physical Chemistry is
our home,
our community,
where we can
come together & exchange ideas.
Joan-Emma Shea
Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C
1896 – 1950 ↓
1951 – 2000
2001 – 2021
Over the last 125 years the editorial team of The Journal of Physical Chemistry has played a pivotal role in the ever-changing landscape of physical chemistry research.
Explore The Journal of Physical Chemistry’s history below, and discover how the journal, its editors, authors, reviewers and readers have helped to define and shape the physical chemistry field.
1896
Twenty-nine-year-old Wilder Dwight Bancroft founded a journal to promote his subject—physical chemistry—much as his teachers in Europe, Wilhelm Ostwald and J. H. van ’t Hoff had done nine years earlier. With the cooperation of his Cornell University colleague, Joseph E. Trevor, Bancroft opened The Journal of Physical Chemistry as the first English language periodical to cover this field— catapulting Bancroft into a position of influence among his fellow physical chemists.
1901
Marie Curie becomes the first-ever female author whose name appears in The Journal of Physical Chemistry, having appeared in the review article Reviews-The electric charge on the deflectable radium rays (J. Phys. Chem. 1901, 5, 2, 152) that was published in 1901 (under S Curie, with the “S” denoting her maiden name Sklodowska). While this was only a “cameo” appearance for Marie Curie, it was the only place in the literature at that time that the title of her paper “Sur la charge électrique des rayons déviables due radium” had appeared in English.
1903
Clara C. Benson became the first known female sole author of a paper that appeared in The Journal of Physical Chemistry in 1903. The Rate of Oxidation of Ferrous Salts by Chromic Acid (J. Phys. Chem. 1903, 7, 1, 1–14) was the first of several papers published by Benson in the journal.
1915
Jnanendra Chandra Ghosh (Presidency University, India) becomes the first Indian author, publishing The Relative Affinity of Metals in Non-Aqueous Solutions and the Reactivity in Insulating Media, I (J. Phys. Chem. 1915, 19, 9, 720–733).
Did you know?
The journal saw a drop in published articles during the Spanish Flu pandemic, World War I and World War II.
1922
Maurice Loyal Huggins, who independently conceived the idea of hydrogen bonding and who was an early advocate for their role in stabilizing protein secondary structure, publishes Electronic Structures of Atoms (J. Phys. Chem. 1922, 26, 7, 601–625) in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. The paper made one of the earliest descriptions of the hydrogen bond.
1926
Shun-ichi Uchida (Government Nitrogen Research Institute, Japan) becomes the first Japanese author of an article in the journal, publishing On the Reaction Mechanism of the Catalytic Oxidation of Ammonia (J. Phys. Chem. 1926, 30, 10, 1297–1305).
1928
Louis Stevenson Kassel publishes Studies in Homogeneous Gas Reactions. I (J. Phys. Chem. 1928, 32, 2, 225–242) in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. The paper dealt with the RRK theory and was a breakthrough in the understanding of unimolecular reactions.
1932
Lars Onsager, recipient of the 1968 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the reciprocal relations bearing his name, which are fundamental for the thermodynamics of irreversible processes, first publishes with The Journal of Physical Chemistry—Irreversible Processes in Electrolytes. Diffusion, Conductance and Viscous Flow in Arbitrary Mixtures of Strong Electrolytes (J. Phys. Chem. 1932, 36, 11, 2689–2778). Onsager goes on to publish numerous times with ACS journals throughout his career.
1933
Often referred to as the father of modern radiation chemistry, Samuel C. Lind replaces Wilder Dwight Bancroft as Editor.
1937
The ambitiously titled article The Theory of the Liquid State (J. Phys. Chem. 1937, 41, 2, 249–257), a highly influential paper, is published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry.
1941
A number of papers from Chinese authors are published in the journal for the first time, including The Reaction between Basic Aluminum Sulfate and Hide Substance (E. O. Wilson and S. C. Yu, Yenching University, China, J. Phys. Chem. 1941, 45, 1, 166–177) and A Thermodynamic Formulation of the Water Relations in an Isolated Living Cell (P. S. Tang and J. S. Wang, National Tsing Hua University, China, J. Phys. Chem. 1941, 45, 3, 443–453). Publications from Chinese authors now represent 17% of all The Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C articles.
1951 – 2000
1951 – 2000
Get the latest articles published across The Journal of Physical Chemistry portfolio with our free weekly e-Alert service.
Get the latest articles published across The Journal of Physical Chemistry portfolio with our free weekly e-Alert service.
1896 – 1950 ↓
1896 – 1950
1951 – 2000 ↓
2001 – 2021
1952
William A. Noyes Jr. becomes Editor-in-Chief, and the original journal name is returned. This coincided with the publication of the journal by ACS.
Noyes Jr. was born into a chemistry family: he and his father, W. Albert Noyes Sr., are the only father and son to each win the Priestly Medal. In addition to his role as Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry from 1952 to 1964, Dr. Noyes Jr. was also Journal of the American Chemical Society Editor-in-Chief from 1950 to 1962, and Editor-in-Chief of Chemical Reviews from 1939 to 1949.
1954
The Journal of Physical Chemistry publishes its first issue in honor of a physical chemist, honoring Peter Debye on his 70th birthday. Read the issue here.
1965
Frederick T. Wall becomes Editor-in-Chief. Wall’s time with the journal was short, leaving his position in 1969 to become the first Chief Executive of ACS.
1970
Bryce Crawford becomes Editor-in-Chief.
Did you know?
Since the 1950s, the journal has published over 220 Festschrifts, Memorials, Commemorative, Dedication and Symposia Issues, celebrating key figures in physical chemistry.
1964
Van der Waals Volumes and Radii (A. Bondi, J. Phys. Chem. 1964, 68, 3, 441–451) is published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. With more than 14,000 citations, the article is the most cited in the journal to date, and continues to be cited today.
1975
Mario J. Molina publishes in The Journal of Physical Chemistry for the first time. Molina was joint recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 2015, the journal published a Festschrift in honor of Mario Molina, and a Virtual Issue in his memory in 2020.
1980
Mostafa A. El-Sayed becomes Editor-in-Chief. El-Sayed has conducted nearly 60 years of groundbreaking chemistry research in photochemistry and nanoscience, serving 25 years of those as Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Physical Chemistry. During his leadership, the journal increased in impact and popularity so dramatically that it evolved into two journals: The Journal of Physical Chemistry A and The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. Read more about this in 1997 ↓
1994
Richard R. Ernst, recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the development of the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, publishes Side-Chain Motion with Two Degrees of Freedom in Peptides. An NMR Study of Phenylalanine Side Chains in Antamanide in The Journal of Physical Chemistry.
1996
The centennial Issue of The Journal of Physical Chemistry is published. In the issue, a short history of the journal to that time as well as the PHYS Division of the ACS was written by Paul F. Barbara.
1997
The journal grows so large that it splits into two parts: A and B. This was mostly driven by problems with packaging the paper copy of the journal into a size that could easily be mailed. Read the editorial announcing the split here. An electronic version of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A and The Journal of Physical Chemistry B was also created.
1896 – 1950
2001 – 2021
1896 – 1950
1951 – 2000 ↓
2001 – 2021
Get the latest articles published across The Journal of Physical Chemistry portfolio with our free weekly e-Alert service.
Get the latest articles published across The Journal of Physical Chemistry portfolio with our free weekly e-Alert service.
Get the latest articles published across The Journal of Physical Chemistry portfolio with our free weekly e-Alert service.
1896 – 1950
1951 – 2000
2001 – 2021 ↓
2005
George C. Schatz becomes Editor-in-Chief. Schatz oversaw numerous significant changes for the journal during his tenure, including the splitting off of The Journal of Physical Chemistry C in 2007 and the launch of The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters in 2010.
2010
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters launches, replacing the Letters that through 2009 appeared in A, B, and C. The inaugural Deputy Editor was Prashant V. Kamat, who now serves as Editor-in-Chief of ACS Energy Letters. Launched with the aim of increasing the visibility of important scientific communications in the field of physical chemistry, the journal has been doing so ever since. It was also the first ACS journal launched as an online-only publication. Explore recent high impact articles here.
2011
Fans of the television series The Big Bang Theory first spot a new addition to Sheldon Cooper’s office: a framed cover depicting Sheldon Cooper’s Festschrift in The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. Learn more about how The Journal of Physical Chemistry came to feature in The Big Bang Theory here.
2012
The Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C introduces Deputy Editors for A, B, and C; Anne McCoy as the Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Sharon Hammes-Schiffer as the Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, and Catherine Murphy as the Deputy Editor for The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
Did you know?
Between 1896 and 2020, over 177,000 manuscripts have been published in the archive journal, A, B, C and Letters. The last 100,000 have been since 2005.
2007
Continued growth of the journal after 1996 (to over 40,000 pages in 2006) led to a further split (again, to facilitate mailing) to parts A, B and C. Read the Editorial outlining the split here.
2013
Collaborating with the PHYS Division of the ACS, the journal introduces annual lectureships that honor young investigators in physical chemistry. The inaugural winners were John M. Herbert (The Ohio State University) for The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, David McCamant (University of Rochester) for The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, and Sarbajit Banerjee (Texas A&M University) for The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
2014
Joan-Emma Shea becomes Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry B.
Professor Shea went on to become Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C in 2020. Read more about this in 2020 ↓
2016
The journals celebrate their 120th anniversary with an Editorial and Virtual Issue of the top 25 cited papers at the time.
Gregory Scholes becomes Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.
2018
The journals recognize authors in South Korea with a Virtual Issue and Editorial.
2021
T. Daniel Crawford, University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Tech and the Director of the Molecular Sciences Software Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia, becomes Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A.
1951 – 2000
2019
To celebrate the International Year of the Periodic Table, the journals publish a Virtual Issue featuring a significant The Journal of Physical Chemistry publication for nearly every element. Check it out.
After 15 years of dedicated service as Editor-in-Chief, Professor Schatz retires. During that time, journal scope revisions and expansions were done to keep the journals relevant to the community, numerous international outreach efforts were undertaken, and the editorial teams were expanded to over 30 Senior and Deputy Editors at the end of 2019. Read Professor Schatz’ retirement Editorial here.
2020
Joan-Emma Shea becomes the first female Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, B and C having served previously as Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry B.
Gregory D. Scholes becomes Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, previously serving as Deputy Editor of the journal. Joan-Emma Shea is joined by Martin Zanni, Meloche-Bascom Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry B and Gregory Hartland, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of Notre Dame, as Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters celebrates its tenth anniversary. Read about Editor-in-Chief Professor Gregory D. Scholes plans for the journal in the future, about the introduction of a new workflow to better support global authors, and explore highly cited articles published in the journal over the last few years.
With COVID-19 declared a global pandemic in 2020, The Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C/Letters are committed to rapidly communicating urgent developments in characterizing, preventing, and treating the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or the disease it causes, COVID-19. Articles published remain free-to-read.
Get the latest articles published across The Journal of Physical Chemistry portfolio with our free weekly e-Alert service.
Get the latest articles published across The Journal of Physical Chemistry portfolio with our free weekly e-Alert service.
Get the latest articles published across The Journal of Physical Chemistry portfolio with our free weekly e-Alert service.