Fundamental Plasma Physics

Fundamental Plasma Physics provides an open access forum for articles that address fundamental aspects of plasma physics research. Fundamental articles can be theoretical, numerical, or experimental. A contribution is considered fundamental if it advances knowledge on a topic at the frontier of plasma physics research and has broad interest within the plasma physics community. The great variety of plasmas that are in nature or produced in the laboratory make plasma science a truly multidisciplinary field. The ambition of FPP is to bring together the various plasma physics communities by focusing on methodologies, theoretical and numerical methods, experimental research, and innovative diagnostics, that further understanding of the physics of plasmas.

Submitted articles must be original, of broad interest within the plasma physics community, and meet one or more of the following criteria:

Initiate a new area of research or open a new line or research within an established area.

Solve, or present significant progress towards solving a critical problem.

Propose innovative techniques or methodologies having significant impact.

Report on the discovery or invention of new plasma phenomena or new plasma applications.

FPP will publish (i) Regular articles, (ii) Letters, and (iii) Reviews and Perspectives.

A Regular article is a full-length article, divided in sections; it may contain appendixes and supplemental material.

A Letter is a short communication (up to six pages in FPP style, not including title, affiliations, abstract, and references; however, no stringent limit will be enforced; a letter should not be divided in sections). It must contain pivotal results that are likely to have an important impact on plasma physics research at large. Submitted Letters will receive expedited peer review and accelerated publication.

Reviews and Perspectives are articles submitted by members of the plasma physics community, that highlight open problems and aspects of relevance in published research and/or indicate potential developments in the field.

Upon submitting an article, the corresponding author will provide a statement explaining in which way the article meets FPP publication standards in terms of broad interest, as well and with regards to the other four criteria indicated above. The corresponding author will also indicate the article type and which journal section the article belongs to.

The Section Editor will take an early decision whether to initiate the evaluation process. If the decision is positive, the Section Editor will seek two anonymous referee reports. At least one of the two reports must carry a detailed assessment of the article in terms of its originality, soundness, and potential impact, while the other report may be limited to the question of broad interest. The Section Editor may also decide not to start the evaluation process for articles that she/he considers not suitable for publication in FPP. In any case, all efforts will be made to ensure a fast evaluation process.

Authors of rejected manuscripts have the right to appeal to the FPP Editor-in-Chief in case they feel that their manuscript has not received a fair treatment.