STM publisher Springer and the Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU), the organisation that represents most of the earth and planetary science societies in Japan, have launched the new open access journal Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (PEPS). The first articles have already been published online. The peer-reviewed online journal is part of the SpringerOpen portfolio. All articles are freely and permanently accessible on Springer's platforms SpringerLink and SpringerOpen.
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science covers a variety of topics ranging from the pursuit of purely scientific subjects, such as the origin of human life and the formation of the solar system, to practical applications, such as weather forecasting and the establishment of a resilient society. The new journal is named after the research fields that are covered by the JpGU. The word 'Science' in the title was left in the singular to emphasize the overall unity of the field.
In addition to publishing high-quality research papers, PEPS particularly aims to promote the publication of review articles that provide an opportunity for scientists to read organised descriptions and summaries of the latest systematic developments. The intention is for review articles in PEPS to fill the gap between a scientific paper and a book. Thus, it will be a useful educational resource for the worldwide geoscience community, for instance by forming the basis for university seminars. Additional files to enrich the content, videos, animations, and large original data can be published along with articles.
The JpGU expects that PEPS will function alongside the many specialist journals as a first-rate platform for the publication of high-quality articles that comprehensively cover all the branches of earth and planetary sciences including space and planetary sciences; atmospheric and hydrospheric sciences; human geosciences; solid sciences; and biogeosciences. The systems that earth and planetary scientists study are very complicated and their phenomena have many different aspects: multidimensional research is vital to gain an understanding of the current state of these systems, explaining their past and predicting their future.
