About the history of PEPAN and Physics of Elementary Particles and Atomic Nuclei, Letters journals

Ending. Start at № 33

By the end of the 1990s, scientific journals changed to electronic format and university libraries around the world began to subscribe not to individual publications, but to large packages. One of the largest packages belonged to the Springer distributor. The cooperation of Russian scientific journals with Pleiades (through the joint company IAPC “Nauka/Interperiodika”) that in turn, collaborated with Springer, allowed including translated versions of Russian scientific journals in such a package that opened access to Russian scientific journals for a huge number of users. In 2007, Pleiades Publishing took away from IAPC the functions of directly publishing English‑language versions of Russian journals. From that moment on, in the translated versions of many Russian journals, in the caps of articles, the IAPC “Nauka/Interperiodika” logo changed to Pleiades Publishing and electronic versions began to be distributed directly through the Springer Nature platform. In issue 6 of volume 44 (November‑December 2013), the cover of the translated version of PEPAN journal dropped the mention of IAPC “Nauka/Interperiodika” and there was only the Pleiades Publishing, Distributed by Springer logo (in photo).

Two significant milestones in the relationship between the PEPAN editorial board and the Pleiades Publishing group should be highlighted that did not affect the quality of review articles for the better. So, at the request of Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. starting from the first issue of 2017 (volume 48, issue 1), the original version of the PEPAN journal, published by the JINR Publishing Department, stopped publishing reviews written in English. This ban was motivated by Springer and Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. copyright protection considerations, since by this time, the translated version of PEPAN was registered by Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. as a separate, independent journal with the Physics of Particles and Nuclei trademark. In the basic version of PEPAN, instead of full-length reviews in English that would have appeared in the basic version of the journal (published in JINR) earlier, only short English annotations were allowed to be posted. It resulted in the outflow of many interesting, high‑quality scientific reviews, the authors of which did not have the time and opportunity to translate them into Russian for timely publication in the Russian version. The second milestone relates to Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.'s constant demand to increase the annual volume of the journal, recorded in the annual "Author order agreement". As a result, the PEPAN editorial board had to publish conference materials to fulfill annual obligations, for instance, that also did not contribute to improving the quality of the review journal.

The indexation of the English version of the PEPAN journal - Physics of Particles and Nuclei in the leading international database "Science Citation Index" (SCI) begins in 1970. In its modern digital format called Web of Science (WoS), this database was launched in 1997. In the WoS database, the journal has an official impact factor (Journal Impact Factor) and is included in the Physics, Particles & Fields category. In the Scopus database (launched in 2004 and associated with the Dutch publishing corporation Elsevier), the journal has been indexed since 2004. In the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), it consistently holds positions in Q3‑Q4 quartiles.

It should be emphasized that scientometric indicators adopted by Western databases (such as Scopus and Web of Science) do not provide an objective estimate of the level of Russian journals. More important is that the PEPAN journal has high Russian ratings, is included in the Core RSCI database, in the “White List” of scientific journals and in the list of Higher Attestation Commission.

As stated above, after N. N. Bogolyubov in February 1992, Academician Alexander Mikhailovich Baldin became the editor‑in‑chief of the PEPAN journal and afterwards, from July 2001 to September 2014 - Academician Vladimir Georgievich Kadyshevsky. Currently, the editor‑in‑chief of the PEPAN journal is Academician Victor Matveev. The duties of executive secretaries of the PEPAN journal were performed by: Professor P. S. Isaev (from 1970 to 2012), Professor A. P. Isaev (from 2012 to 2018) and Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences A. B. Arbuzov (from 2019 to the present).

Once a year, usually in January or February, during the JINR Scientific Council, a reporting plenary meeting of the editorial board is traditionally organized, at which foreign members of the editorial board that are members of the Scientific Council have the opportunity to attend. At these meetings, the tasks of forming topical issues, attracting reviews on the most breakthrough experimental results obtained with the participation of JINR scientists, were more than once set and it was also proposed to stimulate applicants to publish reviews on their candidate and doctoral theses. All this increased the quality level of reviews and contributed to the filling of the journal's portfolio.

It should be emphasized that many issues of PEPAN became desktop books of researchers not only at JINR, but also in many scientific centres of the world. The journal was of high significance in strengthening the scientific cooperation of the JINR Member States, since the representatives of these countries were constantly present in the editorial board and among the authors of the reviews. Detailed reviews on the most today’s achievements of theoretical and experimental research, on the physics of accelerators, pulsed reactors, neutrino instruments, the methodology of the experiment and the acquisition and processing of its results are extremely useful for advanced training of young scientists and engineers.

JINR Publishing Department makes all issues of PEPAN journal (in electronic form) publicly available. Including archived issues are available, for example, by reference via link.

Since May 1984, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, on the initiative of Academician A. M. Baldin, began to publish the JINR Rapid Communications journal in which short articles containing original results of theoretical, experimental, methodological, scientific, technological and applied research were published. The first steps to organize this journal were taken by Academician A. N. Sissakyan that at that time was Chief Scientific Secretary of JINR. Active assistance in the organization was provided by P. S. Isaev that has experience in such work in the PEPAN journal. The first editorial board of the journal, chaired by Academician N. N. Bogolyubov, included A. M. Baldin (deputy chairman), A. N. Sissakyan (deputy chairman), D. V. Shirkov (deputy chairman) and V. A. Biryukov (scientific secretary). Since January 1992, Academician A. M. Baldin had become the chairman of the editorial board of the JINR Rapid Communications journal. At the same time, A. N. Sissakyan and D. V. Shirkov were on the editorial board as vice-chairmen. At the end of 1994, “JINR Rapid Communications” was registered with the Press Committee of the Russian Federation (registration certificate No. 013176 of December 27, 1994).

In 2000, JINR Rapid Communications journal changed its name to Letters on Particle Physics and Atomic Nuclei. From July 2001 to September 2002, the duties of the chairman of the editorial board of the journal were performed by D. V. Shirkov and in September 2002, Alexey Norayrovich Sissakyan was appointed chairman of the editorial board. Under D. V. Shirkov, a very useful practice of introducing JINR laboratory directors to the editorial board of the journal was tested. After the appointment of A. N. Sissakyan, with regard to registration with the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Press, Broadcasting and Mass Media, the journal once again changes its name to "Letters to the journal "Physics of Elementary Particles and Atomic Nuclei" (briefly - "Letters to PEPAN"). The editorial council is transformed into an editorial board.

Since 2004, the IAPC publishing house "Science/Interperiodics" has been translating and publishing the English version of the journal "Letters to PEPAN". The Russian‑language version of the journal from 1984 to the present has been published by the JINR Publishing Department. The numbering of the issues of the Russian-language version has maintained continuity since the publication of JINR Rapid Communications, that is, the link "Letters to PEPAN, 2022, vol. 19, No. 1 (240)" means that this first issue of 2022 has been the 240th issue of the journal since 1984.

Since July 2010, Academician D. V. Shirkov has again become the editor‑in‑chief and since 2013, by order of Director of JINR, Academician V. A. Matveev, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics A. E. Dorokhov was appointed acting editor‑in‑chief of the journal. Finally, in December 2021, after A. E. Dorokhov, Professor A. P. Isaev was appointed editor‑in‑chief of the journal "Letters to PEPAN" by the order of the Director of JINR, Academician G. V. Trubnikov. The responsible and scientific secretaries of the journal "Letters to PEPAN" were S. G. Stetsenko (from 1992 to 2002), P. I. Zarubin and A. E. Dorokhov (from 2002 to 2013) and A. V. Bednyakov (from 2014 to the present).

The translated version of the Physics of Particles and Nuclei, Letters journal has been indexed in world rankings (Scopus and Web of Science) since 2006. In the WoS database, the journal has an official impact factor. In the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) that is represented by the Scopus database, the journal holds positions in Q3‑Q4 quartiles.

We emphasize once again that scientometric indicators adopted by Western databases (such as Scopus and Web of Science) do not give an objective estimate of the level of Russian journals. At present, it is more important for us that the PEPAN, Letters journal has high Russian ratings. It is included in the "Core RSCI", in the "White list", in the RSCI database on the eLibrary platform (category K1/K2 in "Physics and Astronomy") and is included in the list of scientific journals of the Higher Attestation Commission (category K1).

All issues of the Russian-language version of the journal "Particles and Nuclei, Letters" in electronic form are available at the links: https://pepan.jinr.ru/index.php/PepanLetters/issue/archive; https://pepan.jinr.ru/index.php/PepanLetters/oldarchive.

Recalling the history of PEPAN journals and "Particles and Nuclei, Letters", it is necessary to mention the selfless work of the editors of these journals Antonina Nikolaevna Grafova (10.8.1934 - 02.7.2005) and Galina Vasilievna Fedorova that did a lot for their establishment and to ensure impeccable work on the publication of PEPAN and " Particles and Nuclei, Letters". This work, concerned with difficult relationships with authors of scientific articles, with the JINR Publishing Department and with publishers of English versions of journals, brought A. N. Grafova and G. V. Fedorova fame that goes far beyond our Institute.

Recently, difficulties have arisen with translated versions of PEPAN journals and "Particles and Nuclei, Letters" that we, in particular, wrote about above. Moreover, in February 2026, the editorial boards of our journals and the founder, represented by JINR, received a letter signed by the president of Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. A. Shustorovich, that starting from 2027 the company cannot agree with the publishing house and the largest distributor of Springer Nature to continue cooperation on the same terms and notifies the founder and both editorial boards of its refusal to further participate in license agreements. This letter puts the founder and editorial boards of PEPAN journals and "Particles and Nuclei, Letters" before the difficult choice of a further strategy for organizing the publication of English-language versions of these journals.

Despite it, with due concern from JINR Directorate and the Directorates of JINR Laboratories, the PEPAN journals and "Particles and Nuclei, Letters" continue (and will continue) their activities to publish priority scientific achievements of JINR employees in the form of reviews and original articles, reports at various prestigious scientific conferences. It is necessary to attract talented, highly qualified authors. It is necessary to order reviews and print original articles that cover the physical programmes and operation of JINR basic facilities, such as the NICA Accelerator Complex, the IBR‑2M research reactor, unique cyclotrons of heavy ions at FLNR, others. The practice of publishing topical collections of "invited" articles, adopted by many highly rated journals, is very promising. We are confident that the editorial boards of the PEPAN journals and "Particles and Nuclei, Letters", together with the new generation JINR scientific journal Natural Science Review, will continue to successfully meet the problems of promoting the scientific achievements of JINR scientists. It is necessary to continue regular publication of journals both in print (this is relevant for the PEPAN review journal) and in an electronic form. An important task is to increase the level of our journals in various kinds of Russian and world ratings. In particular, action needs to be taken to increase citation of articles published in our journals.

The authors are grateful to A. B. Arbuzov, A. V. Bednyakov and G. V. Fedorova for their help in preparing this article. Materials from the JINR photo archive and from the archive of P. S. Isaev were used.

V. A. MATVEEV, RAS Academician, Editor‑in‑Chief of the PEPAN journal,
A. P. ISAEV, Professor, Editor‑in‑Chief of the "Particles and Nuclei, Letters"