Publication Guide
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is the definitive professional society for medical physics - the discipline covering radiation therapy physics, diagnostic imaging physics, nuclear medicine physics, and radiation dosimetry. Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AAPM is a member society of the American Institute of Physics and publishes two peer-reviewed journals in partnership with Wiley: Medical Physics, the field's flagship research journal since 1974, and the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics (JACMP), a fully open-access clinical journal launched in 2000.
If you work in radiation oncology physics, medical imaging, or dosimetry, these two journals - alongside venues from ASTRO, RSNA, and IOP - are where the core literature of the field lives. This guide covers which AAPM journal fits your paper, the open-access options and actual APCs, the peer review process, and how to submit.
Which AAPM journal fits your paper?
The two journals split cleanly along the research-versus-clinical-practice line. Use the table below to pick your route.
| You're most likely to... | Choose this journal |
|---|---|
| Report original research - new algorithms, detector physics, imaging science, dosimetry methods, therapy physics innovations | Medical Physics - the flagship research journal, hybrid OA, official journal of AAPM and partner societies including COMP and IOMP. |
| Share clinically oriented work - commissioning reports, QA procedures, treatment-planning studies, practical implementation papers | Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics (JACMP) - fully Gold OA since 2000, one of the first open-access journals in the field. |
| Need a no-fee publishing route | Medical Physics under the standard subscription model - no page or submission charges for the conventional route. |
| Need Gold OA on a modest budget | JACMP - APC around $1,010, CC BY, among the most affordable Gold OA venues in imaging and therapy physics. |
What AAPM publishes
- Medical Physics - established January 1974, published monthly. The self-described international journal of medical physics research and practice, covering therapy physics, imaging physics, nuclear medicine, and dosimetry. It moved from the American Institute of Physics to Wiley in 2017 and operates as a hybrid journal: subscription by default, with an OnlineOpen open-access option.
- Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics - established 2000, fully open access from the start. JACMP publishes papers that help clinical medical physicists perform their responsibilities more effectively - commissioning studies, quality assurance, and practical clinical physics.
- AAPM Reports and Task Group reports - freely available technical reports and practice guidelines published on aapm.org. These are not journal articles, but they are among the most-cited documents in clinical medical physics.
Open access and APCs
Both journals sit on Wiley's platform, so Wiley's open-access machinery applies. Figures below are from the August 2026 Wiley price lists (USD, before tax); always confirm on the journal's Wiley page before submitting.
| Route | Cost | Details |
|---|---|---|
| JACMP (Gold OA) | ~$1,010 APC | Mandatory for all JACMP articles; CC BY license. |
| Medical Physics - subscription route | $0 | Standard publication at no author charge; readers need a subscription. |
| Medical Physics - OnlineOpen (hybrid OA) | ~$3,530 APC | Optional; CC BY, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-NC-ND licenses offered. |
| Green OA (self-archiving) | $0 | Accepted-manuscript archiving per Wiley's self-archiving policy, with embargo for subscription articles. |
| Read & Publish coverage | $0 to the author | Authors at institutions with a Wiley transformative agreement can publish OA in either journal with the fee covered - check with your library or the ESAC registry. |
Wiley's automatic waiver and discount policy for authors in Research4Life countries applies to JACMP; case-by-case discounts may be available elsewhere.
Peer review
Both journals use single-anonymized peer review: reviewers know the authors' identities, but not vice versa. Medical Physics is edited by an academic editor-in-chief with a large board of associate editors spanning therapy and imaging physics; JACMP's board is weighted toward practicing clinical physicists. Neither journal publishes formal turnaround statistics - first decisions typically arrive within a few weeks to a few months depending on reviewer availability, which is competitive for the field.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. Research paper → Medical Physics; clinically oriented paper → JACMP.
- Read the author guidelines. Each journal's guidelines are on its Wiley Online Library page; scope mismatches are a leading cause of desk rejection.
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the Medical Physics or JACMP template on SciSpace to match the required structure and AAPM's numbered (Vancouver-style) reference format.
- Submit via the journal's online system. Both journals have used ScholarOne Manuscripts (manuscriptcentral.com); Wiley has been migrating titles to its Research Exchange platform, so follow the submission link on the journal homepage for the current system.
- Track and revise. Decisions, reviewer reports, and revisions are handled in the same system.
Ethics and integrity
AAPM's journals follow COPE guidance through Wiley, which is a COPE member, and apply standard research-integrity screening. Conflict-of-interest disclosure is required, and clinical studies must document ethics approval. Retractions and corrections follow COPE-aligned procedures on Wiley Online Library.
