European Physical Journal

This is a book about science.

It covers many parts of science. It looks at tiny bits. It also looks at light. Some parts study how we live.

Many old books joined together. They made this new book in 1998. It helps people share new ideas.

Some people read it for free. This started in 2006. It is a way to learn.

It is a very big book. It has many different parts. It helps us know more about our world.

The European Physical Journal, or EPJ, is a science book.

It covers all areas of physics. Physics is the study of how things work. The EPJ has many parts. Some parts look at tiny bits called particles. Other parts study light and atoms. One part looks at how science works in living things.

Many old science books joined together. This happened in 1998. They made a new, big group. This group includes books like Journal de Physique. It also includes Il Nuovo Cimento. In 2011, another group called PhysMath Central joined too.

Since 2006, some parts are open-access. This means people can read them for free.

In 2023, the editors did something important. They retracted an article. To retract means to take it back. The article was from 2022. It talked about climate change. Many people shared it. It was a very popular article. But the editors took it back.

The European Physical Journal, or EPJ, is a special science publication. It focuses on the study of physics. Physics is the way we learn how the world works. This journal is very important for scientists. It shares new discoveries with the world. It covers many different areas of science.

The journal works by dividing science into many sections. Each section looks at a different topic. Some parts look at tiny particles and nuclei. Other parts study how matter behaves in complex systems. One section focuses on light and atoms. Another part looks at how science works in living things. There is even a part for the history of physics.

Many older science journals joined together to make the EPJ. This big change happened in January 1998. It brought together books like Journal de Physique and Zeitschrift für Physik. It also included Il Nuovo Cimento from the Società Italiana di Fisica. Later, a group called PhysMath Central joined in 2011. This merger helped create one large home for physics.

Many groups help run the EPJ today. It is a joint work of EDP Sciences and Springer Science+Business Media. The Società Italiana di Fisica also helps. Since 2006, the journal has offered an open-access option. This means people can read the work for free. This makes science easier for everyone to see.

Sometimes, science journals must fix mistakes. In 2023, editors took back an article from 2022. This is called a retraction. The article was about climate change. It was very popular and shared by many people. It even appeared on Sky News Australia. The editors decided to retract it to keep the science right.

The European Physical Journal, often called EPJ, is a major academic publication. It serves as a central hub for sharing research in physics. Physics is the scientific study of matter, energy, and the forces of nature. This journal is a collaborative effort between several organizations. It is a joint publication of EDP Sciences and Springer Science+Business Media. The Società Italiana di Fisica also participates in its publication. By bringing together different researchers, the EPJ helps advance our understanding of the physical world.

The EPJ functions through a complex system of specialized sections. These sections allow scientists to focus on very specific branches of physics. For example, EPJ A covers hadrons and nuclei, which are tiny building blocks of matter. EPJ B focuses on condensed matter and complex systems. EPJ C is dedicated to particles and fields. EPJ D examines atomic, molecular, optical, and plasma physics, alongside data science. There are even sections for soft matter and biological physics in EPJ E. This organizational structure ensures that every niche of physics has a dedicated home.

Beyond these primary sections, the journal offers even more specialized topics. EPJ H provides historical perspectives on contemporary physics. It also includes areas like nuclear sciences and technologies. Other topics include nonlinear biomedical physics and photovoltaics, which is the study of light turning into electricity. The journal also covers quantum technology and research infrastructures. Some parts of the journal focus on techniques and instrumentation. There is even a section called Web of Conferences, which serves as a journal of conference proceedings. This variety allows the EPJ to cover the entire spectrum of physical science.

The history of the EPJ is a story of many scientific journals merging together. In the late 1990s, Springer and EDP Sciences decided to merge two journals. These were Zeitschrift für Physik and Journal de Physique. In January 1998, the EPJ officially commenced publication. It grew by incorporating Il Nuovo Cimento from the Società Italiana di Fisica. The EPJ is actually a continuation of several other established journals. These include Acta Physica Hungarica, Anales de Física, and the Czechoslovak Journal of Physics. It also includes Portugaliae Physica. This merger created a massive, unified resource for the global physics community.

As the journal evolved, it expanded its reach through new types of access. In 2006, the EPJ began offering an open-access option. Open access means that researchers can read the published work without a subscription fee. This helps spread scientific knowledge more widely. In 2011, another change occurred when a journal family called PhysMath Central merged into the EPJ. PhysMath Central was a short-lived family of open-access journals. This merger helped strengthen the EPJ's position as a leader in accessible science.

Scientific journals must sometimes deal with difficult situations regarding published work. In 2023, editors had to perform a retraction for an article. A retraction is when a journal officially withdraws a published paper. This specific article was published in 2022 in the European Physical Journal Plus. The article claimed to find no evidence of climate change. This paper became very popular and was widely shared. Article metrics showed it was in the 99th percentile of similar articles. Specifically, it ranked 293rd out of 512,033 tracked articles of a similar age.

The impact of this retracted article was quite large. Within the European Physical Journal Plus, it ranked 1st among the 41 tracked articles of its age. The article was cited by people who deny climate change. It was also featured in two segments on Sky News Australia. This news outlet is known for sharing climate science misinformation. Interestingly, the retraction note did not list typical reasons like data errors or plagiarism. It did not mention image falsification or other common mistakes. The editors' decision highlights the ongoing process of maintaining scientific accuracy.