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The APS Manuscript Status page is the American Physical Society’s public lookup for a paper you have submitted to one of its journals, including Physical Review Letters (PRL) and the Physical Review journals such as Physical Review B (PRB). You enter a manuscript code and an author surname, and it returns the events logged for that submission, newest first. This guide explains what you need before you open it, how to read what comes back, and what the page does not tell you. Facts below were checked against APS pages on 2026-10-29.
What the APS manuscript status page is
It is a form at authors.aps.org/Submissions/status. The PRL author page tells authors: “To check the status of your paper at any time, visit the APS Manuscript Status page.” The form has exactly two fields, labelled “Accession Code” and “Author’s Last Name”.
The “manuscript status” searches people run for APS journals (PRL manuscript status, PRB manuscript status, Physical Review manuscript status) all lead to this same page. It tracks a submission that is already in the APS system. It is not a way to look up published articles.
Who runs it and what it covers
APS, the publisher of the Physical Review journals, runs it as part of its author submission tools. Submissions are made through the APS Submission Server, and the PRL author page says a PDF of the paper is all that is needed for it to be sent for peer review. The submission guidelines for the Physical Review journals describe the same status information from the signed-in side of the system, and they are the pages to read for details on the submission process itself.
The status page covers APS journals only. Journals from other publishers, including those that run their own submission systems, have their own tracking pages and their own wording, which this guide does not describe.
What you need before you look
- The 7-digit Accession Code. The PRL author page says you need your manuscript’s 7-digit Accession Code. The Physical Review submission guidelines say the Editorial Offices email a permanent APS manuscript code number within 2 business days of submission, after the confirmation email you receive when you click Submit Manuscript.
- An author surname. Enter the last name of one of the first three authors on the paper.
Because the lookup accepts any of the first three authors’ surnames, a co-author who has the code can check the status without the submitting author’s account. The same guidelines say co-authors also receive an email link to add an ORCID iD, which is separate from the status lookup.
How to check the status of an APS manuscript
- Find the manuscript code in the APS email sent after you submitted. If nothing has arrived and it is within 2 business days of submission, wait for it.
- Open the APS Manuscript Status page from the link on your journal’s author page.
- Type the code into “Accession Code”.
- Type the last name of one of the first three authors into “Author’s Last Name”.
- Submit the form and read the event list. It “appears in reverse chronological order”, so the most recent event is first.
If you are signed in to your APS account instead, the submission guidelines say the “View details” option shows the status of your manuscript as it is being processed. Manuscripts that need something from you appear in the “Active” section. For an accepted paper, the guidelines tell you to click “Complete Accepted Tasks” on the manuscript’s details page.
Account sign-in options on the main APS author page include a journals account, an APS Member Account, and institutional access through OpenAthens, with a “Forgot your username/password?” link for recovery. The status form itself does not need an account.
Reading the result
The result is a log of events, not a single label. Two points from the APS page matter when you interpret it:
- The newest event is at the top, so read from the top down for where the paper stands now and from the bottom up for its history.
- Reminders sent to the same referee will not necessarily appear on the status report, so a quiet-looking log does not prove that no follow-up has happened.
The status page does not define the terms it shows. The status page shows no glossary of terms, so check the wording of any event against your decision letter and the journal’s author guidance rather than assuming it means what the same words mean at another publisher. For how long review usually takes across journals in general, see how long peer review takes.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- No account is needed, only the code and an author surname.
- Any of the first three authors can look, which helps when the corresponding author is travelling or unavailable. See corresponding author vs co-author vs contributing author for how those roles differ.
- Events are listed with the newest first.
Limits
- It needs the 7-digit code, so it cannot be used before APS has issued one.
- It does not define status terms.
- Referee reminders may not appear.
- APS asks that problems with the server itself, such as missing data or no response, go to [email protected], and that the general feedback address is not used for specific manuscripts.
NIHMS is not the same thing
Searches for “nih manuscript submission system” are about a different process. NIHMS is the NIH Manuscript Submission System, a National Library of Medicine site for depositing author manuscripts under public-access rules. Its own page describes deposit as a multi-step process that currently takes approximately 2 to 3 weeks following initial approval of a complete submission. It tracks a deposit, not the peer review of a journal submission. For the policy side, see the NIH Public Access Policy explained and PubMed vs PubMed Central.
Alternatives
| Option | What it needs | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| APS Manuscript Status page | 7-digit Accession Code and surname of one of the first three authors | Event list, newest first |
| Signed-in APS account, “View details” | Your APS account | Status of the manuscript as it is processed; “Active” section for items needing action |
| [email protected] | A description of the problem | Server problems such as missing data or no response |
| NIHMS | A manuscript deposit under NIH public-access rules | Deposit progress, not journal peer review |
FAQ
Is there a separate PRL, PRB or Physical Review manuscript status page?
The PRL author page points to the single APS Manuscript Status page, and the Physical Review submission guidelines describe the same code-plus-surname lookup. Use the manuscript code from your own APS email.
Can a co-author check the status?
Yes, if they have the code. The lookup accepts the last name of any of the first three authors.
I have no manuscript code yet. What now?
The Physical Review guidelines say the Editorial Offices email a permanent code within 2 business days. Check the confirmation email you received after submitting, and your spam folder, before contacting anyone.
Why does the report not list every reminder?
APS states that reminders to the same referee will not necessarily appear on the status report.
Is this the same for ACS or Science journals?
No. This guide covers APS journals. Other publishers run their own tracking systems with their own wording.
Who do I contact if the page itself is not working?
APS lists [email protected] for server problems such as missing data or no response.
Is NIHMS the way to check a journal manuscript?
No. NIHMS handles public-access deposit for NIH-funded work. Journal review status comes from the journal’s own system. A related concept is simultaneous submission.
Sources
- APS, Manuscript Status, checked 2026-10-29.
- APS, Physical Review Letters: Information for Authors, checked 2026-10-29.
- APS, Web Submission Guidelines, Physical Review journals, checked 2026-10-29.
- APS, Information for authors, checked 2026-10-29.
- National Library of Medicine, NIH Manuscript Submission System, checked 2026-10-29.
