Publication Guide
SciPost is what academic publishing looks like when researchers run it themselves. Founded in Amsterdam in 2016 by University of Amsterdam physicist Jean-Sébastien Caux, the SciPost Foundation operates a non-profit, community-owned publishing portal at scipost.org. Every journal is diamond open access: authors pay nothing, readers pay nothing, and all articles are published under a CC BY license. Peer review is radically transparent - referee reports are posted publicly alongside each submission - and the Foundation publishes its full finances openly.
The portfolio began with SciPost Physics (2016), now an established, well-cited venue in theoretical, computational, and mathematical physics, and has grown to roughly 15 titles spanning physics, astronomy, chemistry, and even migration politics. SciPost is an OASPA member, and all its journals are listed in DOAJ with the DOAJ Seal. This guide covers which SciPost journal fits your paper, how the cost-free model works, how peer-witnessed refereeing runs, and how to submit.
Which SciPost journal fits your paper?
SciPost organizes its physics family by selectivity and article type; the astronomy and chemistry families mirror the same structure. Use the table below to pick a target.
| You're most likely to... | Choose this journal |
|---|---|
| Have a significant original research result in physics | SciPost Physics - the flagship; selective, broad-scope physics research. |
| Have solid, technically correct physics research of narrower impact | SciPost Physics Core - sound-science criterion, same open refereeing. |
| Be writing pedagogical or review material | SciPost Physics Lecture Notes - lecture notes, tutorials, and reviews. |
| Be publishing conference contributions | SciPost Physics Proceedings - refereed proceedings volumes. |
| Be releasing scientific software with a descriptive paper | SciPost Physics Codebases - publishes and archives research codebases with peer review. |
| Work in astronomy or chemistry | SciPost Astronomy or SciPost Chemistry families - newer titles (2020-2021) with the same model. |
| Study migration and its politics | Migration Politics (2022) - SciPost's first social-science journal. |
What SciPost publishes
Around 15 diamond OA journals, all hosted on the SciPost platform:
- Physics family - SciPost Physics (2016), SciPost Physics Core (2019), SciPost Physics Lecture Notes (2018), SciPost Physics Proceedings (2019), SciPost Physics Codebases (2022), plus Community Reports.
- Astronomy family - launched 2020-2021, mirroring the physics structure.
- Chemistry family - launched from 2021, including SciPost Chemistry.
- Social sciences - Migration Politics (2022).
Coverage is deepest in theoretical, computational, and mathematical physics - condensed matter, quantum physics, high-energy theory, and statistical mechanics are core strengths.
Costs and open access - the diamond model
SciPost charges no APCs, no submission fees, and no subscription fees. There is nothing to waive because there is nothing to pay.
| Item | At SciPost | At a typical commercial publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Article processing charge | $0 | ~12,000+ |
| Submission fee | $0 | Usually $0, sometimes charged |
| Reader access | Free (CC BY) | Subscription or APC-funded OA |
| Copyright | Retained by authors | Varies; often transferred for subscription articles |
Operations are funded through consortial sponsorship: universities, libraries, national funding agencies, and consortia contribute to a pooled budget, and the Foundation publishes its financial reports publicly. Because there is no per-article charge, publishing decisions carry no financial incentive - a structural safeguard many researchers cite as a reason to choose SciPost.
Peer review: peer-witnessed refereeing
SciPost's signature is open, peer-witnessed refereeing:
- Submissions are visible on the portal during refereeing (authors typically also post to arXiv).
- Invited referee reports are published openly alongside the submission; referees can choose to sign or stay anonymous.
- Registered contributors can also post comments, so the exchange is 'witnessed' by the community.
- Authors reply publicly to reports, and revised versions go through further public rounds.
- Final accept/reject decisions are taken by the relevant Editorial College by majority vote.
The result is a fully citable, permanent public record of the review process attached to every published article.
How to submit
- Post your preprint to arXiv (standard practice for SciPost's physics titles).
- Register as a Contributor on scipost.org using your academic credentials and ORCID.
- Submit via the SciPost platform, linking your arXiv preprint and selecting the target journal.
- Engage with the public reports - respond to referee reports and comments openly on the submission page.
- Await the Editorial College decision; accepted papers are published immediately in citable, DOI-registered form under CC BY.
SciPost uses its own purpose-built platform - there is no Editorial Manager or ScholarOne involved - and its reference style is a numbered format; SciSpace templates cover the SciPost format.
Ethics and integrity
SciPost is a member of OASPA, deposits open citations (I4OC-aligned) via Crossref, and lists all journals in DOAJ with the Seal, which certifies best practice in OA publishing. The public refereeing record itself is a strong integrity mechanism: reports, author replies, and editorial recommendations are permanently visible. The Foundation's genuinely non-profit, fee-free structure removes the volume incentives that drive quality concerns at some OA publishers.
