Physical Sciences & Engineering
Physics and astronomy research: preprints, funders, facilities and journals
Physics and astronomy research runs on shared infrastructure. Most new work appears first on arXiv, founded in 1991 by Paul Ginsparg and, after decades hosted by Cornell, an independent nonprofit since 2026; it holds more than three million articles in eight fields, physics among them. arXiv moderates for fit but does not peer review, and first-time submitters to a category need an endorsement. Literature is indexed in INSPIRE, the high-energy physics system run by CERN, DESY, Fermilab, IHEP, IN2P3 and SLAC, and in the Astrophysics Data System, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory under a NASA cooperative agreement.
US funding runs through three agencies. NSF's Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences supports astronomical sciences, materials research and physics. The DOE Office of Science calls itself the nation's largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences, with programmes including High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics and Fusion Energy Sciences and user facilities at national laboratories. NASA's Science Mission Directorate funds research mainly through the peer-reviewed ROSES solicitation, and its astrophysics strategy is driven by decadal surveys. Observing time on JWST is awarded through annual General Observer calls with dual-anonymous review.
The American Physical Society, founded in 1899, publishes 19 journals including Physical Review Letters; the American Astronomical Society owns and operates The Astrophysical Journal and its sister flagship titles.
New to the field? What is Physics & Astronomy? →
Reviewed 5 November 2026 by CASRAI Editorial Board
- arXiv about page (founding, independence in 2026, size, fields, moderation)(read 5 November 2026)
- arXiv endorsement policy(read 5 November 2026)
- INSPIRE project overview (operating collaboration and partners)(read 5 November 2026)
- ADS help pages (operator and NASA cooperative agreement)(read 5 November 2026)
- NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences(read 5 November 2026)
- DOE Office of Science(read 5 November 2026)
- DOE Office of Science user facilities(read 5 November 2026)
- NASA Science for researchers (ROSES, peer review)(read 5 November 2026)
- NASA Astrophysics Division (decadal-survey-driven strategy)(read 5 November 2026)
- STScI JWST calls for proposals and policy(read 5 November 2026)
- American Physical Society about page(read 5 November 2026)
- AAS journals home page(read 5 November 2026)
Field at a glance
Preprints and indexes
- arXiv (about page)
- Founded 1991 by Paul Ginsparg, independent nonprofit since 2026 after decades at Cornell; 3M+ articles in eight fields, moderated but not peer reviewed.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- arXiv endorsement policy
- First submissions to arXiv or to a new category need an endorsement, automatic for some institutional authors or from an established author in the field.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- INSPIRE - high-energy physics information system
- Run by CERN, DESY, Fermilab, IHEP, IN2P3 and SLAC; full-text search of arXiv content, author profiles and paper claiming, linked to ADS, PDG and HEPData.Website ↗
- ADS - Astrophysics Data System (help pages)
- The standard astronomy literature index, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory under NASA Cooperative Agreement 80NSSC21M0056.Website ↗
Funders and programmes
- NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)
- NSF directorate funding astronomical sciences, materials research and physics, plus observatories, Physics Frontiers Centers and MRSECs.Website ↗
- DOE Office of Science
- Self-described largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences; programmes include HEP, Nuclear Physics, FES and BES.Website ↗
- NASA Science Mission Directorate - funding for researchers (ROSES)
- NASA science funds research mainly through the annual omnibus ROSES solicitation, each element with its own topics and due date; proposals are peer reviewed.Website ↗
- NASA Astrophysics Division
- SMD division running Physics of the Cosmos, Cosmic Origins and Exoplanet Exploration; its overall strategy is driven by the decadal surveys.Website ↗
Archives, facilities and data
- DOE Office of Science user facilities
- National user facilities (accelerators, colliders, light and neutron sources, supercomputers) run under ASCR, BES, BER, FES, HEP and NP.Website ↗
- JWST calls for proposals (STScI)
- Annual General Observer calls open to the worldwide community with dual-anonymous review; the Cycle 6 call closed on 30 September 2026.Website ↗
- CERN
- European particle physics laboratory founded in 1954 with 25 member states; operates the Large Hadron Collider and its ATLAS, CMS, ALICE and LHCb detectors.Website ↗
- ESO - European Southern Observatory
- Intergovernmental organisation founded in 1962 operating Paranal (VLT), La Silla and, with partners, ALMA in Chile; the ELT is under construction.Website ↗
Societies
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Founded 1899, more than 50,000 members in academia, national laboratories and industry; publishes 19 journals.Website ↗
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Federation of 30+ societies including APS and AAS; also studies how physical-science research is done through surveys and statistical reports.Website ↗
- International Astronomical Union (IAU)
- Describes itself as the largest international union of professional astronomers; scientific work runs through Divisions, Commissions and Working Groups.Website ↗
Journals
- APS journals (Physical Review family)
- Physical Review Letters, Physical Review A-E, PRX titles and Reviews of Modern Physics; access model (open, hybrid, subscription) listed per journal.Website ↗
- AAS journals
- AAS owns and operates ApJ, ApJ Letters, ApJ Supplement, AJ and PSJ, plus Research Notes; since 2025 each contributed dataset gets a DOI.Website ↗
40 pages across 9 topic areas
Research Methods & Statistics
- Astronomy vs Astrophysics: What Is the Difference?Comparison
Astronomy and astrophysics are now used close to interchangeably by researchers, universities and funders. Historically, astronomy meant observing and…
- Physics vs Chemistry: What Is the Difference?Comparison
Physics studies the fundamental laws of matter, energy, space and time; chemistry studies how atoms combine and react. Scope, methods, funding, traini…
- What Is Astronomy? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A thorough answer to "what is astronomy" — what it studies, its major subfields, who funds the research (NASA, NSF, DOE, and major private foundations…
- What Is Astrophysics? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A thorough answer to "what is astrophysics" — what it studies, its major subfields, who funds the research (NASA, NSF, DOE, and major private foundati…
- What Is Biophysics?
Biophysics uses the concepts and instruments of physics to explain how biological molecules, cells and organisms work. Subfields, methods, funders, so…
- What Is Cosmology? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A thorough answer to "what is cosmology" — what it studies, its major subfields, who funds the research (NASA, NSF, DOE, and major private foundations…
- What Is Nuclear Physics? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A thorough answer to “what is nuclear physics” — what it studies, its major subfields, who funds the research (DOE Office of Science, NSF), typical re…
- What Is Particle Physics? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A thorough answer to "what is particle physics" — what it studies, its major sub-fields, who funds the research (DOE, NSF, CERN), typical methods and…
- What Is Physics? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A thorough answer to "what is physics" — what it studies, its major subfields, who funds the research (NSF, DOE, NASA, DOD), typical methods and tools…
- What Is Quantum Physics? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A thorough answer to "what is quantum physics" — what it studies, its major sub-fields, who funds the research (NSF, DOE, NIST, IARPA), typical method…
Scholarly Publishing
- Advanced Photon Source: User Access and Beamlines
A practical guide to the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne: proposal submission pathways, beamline allocations, Globus data management, and user polic…
- APS March Meeting: Global Physics Summit Guide
A practical guide to the APS March Meeting and Global Physics Summit: upcoming dates, abstract guidelines, presentation formats, and session navigatio…
- arXiv astro-ph: Astrophysics Preprints Guide
A practical guide to arXiv astro-ph, detailing the six subcategories, submission deadlines, endorsement rules, and NASA ADS indexing for astrophysics.…
- arXiv Physics Categories: Taxonomy & Guide
Learn how arXiv organizes physics across standalone archives and the physics omnibus, with rules for primary classification, cross-listing, and submis…
- NOIRLab: Guide to NSF Astronomy Facilities
Explore NSF's NOIRLab: observing proposal deadlines, Time Allocation Committee review, Astro Data Archive FITS access, and ground-based telescope faci…
- PhySH: Physics Subject Headings Scheme Guide
A complete guide to PhySH (Physics Subject Headings), the APS classification scheme for manuscript submission, editorial routing, and literature index…
- Physica B: Condensed Matter Journal Scope and Sections
Physica B (Elsevier, ISSN 0921-4526): scope, its seven submission sections mapped to topics, and Crossref output counts, read 2026-11-12.…
- viXra: E-Print Archive and Submission Guide
An operational overview of viXra.org, detailing submission protocols, PDF formatting rules, version replacement policies, and repository governance.…
Laboratory Operations & Safety
- Cytek Aurora: Full Spectrum Flow Cytometry Guide
The Cytek Aurora full spectrum flow cytometer combines up to 5 lasers, APD detectors, and spectral unmixing to analyze complex panels exceeding 40 col…
- Direct Imaging of Exoplanets: How It Works
How exoplanet direct imaging works, which planets it can detect, and how to read imaging-discovered planets in catalogues.…
- Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Guide
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope guide: technical specs for the LAT and GBM instruments, pair-conversion physics, and FSSC research data analysis workf…
- Inertial Confinement: Physics, Drivers & Fusion
Technical guide to inertial confinement fusion (ICF), detailing direct and indirect laser drivers, target ablation, Lawson criterion, and lab faciliti…
- KATRIN Experiment: Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Mass Explained
KATRIN measures neutrino mass from tritium beta decay at KIT. Its 2025 result is an upper limit of 0.45 eV at 90% CL; what that means and what comes n…
- Nanoscale: Definition, Range and Lab Standards
A guide to the nanoscale (1 to 100 nm), detailing ISO/TS 80004-1, FDA, and EPA standards, quantum effects, particle taxonomy, and lab safety protocols…
- Radial Velocity: Principles, Methods and Standards
Radial velocity measures line-of-sight motion. Review IAU standards, Doppler spectrograph limits, exoplanet mass metrics, and repository pipelines.…
Grants Management & Research Funding
- Astro2020 Decadal Survey: Priorities & Roadmap
A guide to the Astro2020 decadal survey, covering NASEM recommendations, NASA and NSF funding priorities, community participation, and mission roadmap…
- Kavli Foundation: The Kavli Institute Model for Astrophysics, Nanoscience, and Neuroscience Funding
How the Kavli Foundation funds research through 20 permanently endowed Kavli Institutes rather than typical competitive project grants, plus its Prize…
- NSF MPS: Grants for Physical & Math Sciences
Navigate NSF MPS grants: discover funding mechanisms across physics, astronomy, and math, proposal eligibility, Research.gov steps, and merit review c…
- STFC Funding: How the Science and Technology Facilities Council Funds UK Physics, Astronomy, and Large Facilities
A guide to how the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funds UK particle physics, astronomy, nuclear physics, and large research faciliti…
Research Data Management
- GWOSC: Public Access to LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA Gravitational-Wave Data
GWOSC is the public repository for LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA gravitational-wave strain data and event catalogs, including the O4b release and GWTC-5.0 ca…
- HEPData: The Particle-Physics Research Data Repository
HEPData is the discipline-specific repository for scattering and kinematic data underlying particle-physics publications, hosted at Durham University…
- NASA Exoplanet Archive: The Domain Repository for Confirmed and Candidate Exoplanet Data
A guide to the NASA Exoplanet Archive: what it is, who operates it, its confirmed/candidate planet and host-star data, its mission tables and tools, a…
- NASA Planetary Data System (PDS): Archiving and Reusing Planetary-Mission Science Data
How NASA's Planetary Data System archives and shares planetary-mission science data: its federated node structure, the PDS4 data standard, data discov…
Research Tools & Software
- AASTeX LaTeX Guide: Class Setup & Author Workflow
A practical guide to the AASTeX LaTeX markup package for astronomy manuscripts, covering class options, table formatting, and AAS journal submission r…
- REVTeX: Guide for Physics Manuscripts
Learn how to format physics manuscripts using the REVTeX 4.2 document class for APS and AIP journals, arXiv preprints, and collaborative research team…
- What Is Overleaf? A Beginner's Guide to the Online LaTeX Editor
What Overleaf is, why researchers use it instead of Word for equation-heavy and citation-heavy manuscripts, getting started without knowing LaTeX, jou…
CRediT & Authorship
- Astronomy Survey Authorship: How SDSS, DESI, and Rubin/LSST Compile Author Lists
How SDSS, DESI, and Rubin Observatory/LSST decide who counts as an author on survey papers: Builder/Architect status, the two-set author-order model,…
- Authorship in High-Energy-Physics Megacollaborations: How ATLAS, CMS, and LIGO Assign Order and Credit
How ATLAS, CMS, and LIGO/Virgo assign author order and qualify authorship on papers with hundreds or thousands of names, and where individual credit i…
Laboratory Equipment & Instrumentation
- Spectrograph: What It Is, How It Works and Main Types
A spectrograph splits light into wavelengths and records the spectrum. Parts, variants and a Hubble STIS worked example.…
Research Information & Identifiers
- NASA ADS (Astrophysics Data System): What It Is and How to Search It
What NASA ADS (adsabs) is, who operates it, the search syntax that matters, and how to connect ORCID so claimed papers are trusted.…
