Special Editions, Conference Editions, and Special Collections

Physical Review Special Topics – Accelerators and Beams (PRST-AB) publishes Conference Editions, Special Editions and Special Collections. The Special and Conference Editions are associated with accelerator conferences, and the Special Collections bring together the work of groups and collaborations. They are announced from time to time on the PRST-AB home page. The all-electronic nature of PRST-AB makes these editions possible while maintaining thorough peer review and timely publication. Articles are reviewed through the normal refereeing procedure. If accepted for publication they are published as regular PRST-AB articles as soon as they are ready without delay waiting for other papers. In addition, a special Table Of Contents is created on the PRST-AB WWW site with links to the published papers.

Special Editions are published when the conference has associated proceedings. The Special Edition offers the opportunity to expand upon work presented at the conference without a page limitation and

1. The benefit of peer review - careful reading and criticism of a knowledgeable colleague.
2. Publication in an archival journal that is distributed without subscription or pay per view fees.

Conference Editions are published when the conference has no associated proceedings. They offer the opportunity to publish new results presented at the conference with the benefits of peer review and publication in an archival journal.

Special Collections bring together the work of groups or collaborations. Examples are 1) work focused on a science or technology topic and 2) the performance or design of a specific accelerator.

In keeping with PRST-AB policy papers must contain important new results in science and/or technology. Confirmation of previously published results of unusual importance can be considered as new, as can significant null results. In general, authors should keep review material to a minimum. Even so, some review and reprise of past work is appropriate if the paper can be made more understandable and self-contained thereby. Papers cannot be duplicates of work submitted for publication elsewhere. Material previously published, or submitted for publication, in a Letters journal or in a conference proceedings can be the basis of an article in PRST-AB provided the submitted manuscript presents more information, enabling the reader to obtain an improved understanding of the subject.