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Cite This: J. Phys. Chem. A 2017, 121, 8188-8188
Not Physical Chemistry (in the Eyes of the Journal of Physical Chemistry) was tasked to write a viewpoint on the topic of “your work is not Physical Chemistry”, for our editorial series that focuses on some of the reasons why papers are not accepted for publication in the Journal of Physical Chemistry. This made me contemplate the question of “What exactly is Physical Chemistry?” Taking cues from my students, I first turned to Wikipedia, the “source of all information”, to answer this pressing question. Wikipedia defines physical chemistry as “the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics, analytical dynamics, and chemical equilibrium.” [https://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_chemistry] It makes a distinction between Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics, the latter defined as “a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics”. This is an interesting distinction but not one that we strictly enforce in the Journal of Physical Chemistry when assessing whether a topic falls within the scope of the journal. The American Chemical Society has its own definition of physical chemistry as “the study of how matter behaves on a molecular and atomic level and how chemical reactions occur.” [https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/careers/college-tocareer/areas-of-chemistry/physical-chemistry.html] These definitions are admittedly quite broad. Physical Chemistry is indeed a vast field, covering the microscopic to the macroscopic, and this is reflected in the content of the Journal of Physical Chemistry (A, B, C) that covers topics ranging from the study of small clusters, to biological molecules, to materials. The Wikipedia/ACS definitions do eliminate the obvious. If you are reporting on the total synthesis of a natural product, this is “Not Physical Chemistry”. However, I think that it is safe to assume that if you are working on such a topic, you would probably not submit it to the Journal of Physical Chemistry in the first place. Then why is your paper, that falls squarely within the definitions above (say, a routine quantum mechanical calculation of the gas-phase conformers of a small molecule), not considered appropriate for the Journal of Physical Chemistry? This is where a subtle, but important, point comes into play. The issues lies in the fact the Wikipedia and ACS definitions are lacking a key element that makes a body of work, in the eyes of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, “Physical Chemistry”. What we are looking for is best said in the words of Mikhail Lomonosov, an 18th century polymath, the first to formally introduce the term “physical chemistry” in a series of lectures at Petersburg University in 1752. He states, “Physical chemistry is the science that must explain under provisions of physical experiments the reason for what is happening in complex
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© 2017 American Chemical Society
bodies through chemical operations”. [https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Physical_chemistry] I will pick up two keywords here: “explain” and “reason”. Working on a topic that falls within the Wikipedia/ACS definitions of physical chemistry does not make the output of the work in itself appropriate for the Journal of Physical Chemistry. Only work, be it theoretical, computational, or experimental, that truly explains the reason behind a certain phenomena, that provides new physical insights into a problem (that falls within the scope of Physical Chemistry), is what constitutes physical chemistry research suitable for publication in the Journal of Physical Chemistry. For your next submission to the Journal of Physical Chemistry, consider the following: (1) Does my paper fall within the scope of physical chemistry as defined by Wikipedia or the ACS? And (2) If so, does my work “explain the reason” behind a phenomenon of interest to the Physical Chemistry community?
Joan-Emma Shea, Deputy Editor
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Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93111, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
ORCID
Joan-Emma Shea: 0000-0002-9801-9273 Notes
The author declares no competing financial interest.
Published: November 2, 2017 8188
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.7b09596 J. Phys. Chem. A 2017, 121, 8188−8188
