Physical Review B Acceptance Rate

PRB accepts roughly 60-65% of papers sent to reviewers. The overall acceptance rate from submission (including desk rejections) is closer to 50-55%.

To put it in perspective:

• Physical Review Letters: ~30% acceptance (much more selective)
• Physical Review B: ~50-55% overall acceptance
• Physical Review E: ~50-55% (similar model)
• npj Computational Materials: ~20-25% (more selective for computation)

PRB is less exclusive than PRL. It publishes a much higher volume of work and accepts papers that are technically solid contributions to condensed matter or materials physics, even without the broad significance PRL requires.

PRB covers condensed matter physics and related materials physics: electronic structure, superconductivity, magnetism, semiconductors, surface physics, strongly correlated systems, topological materials, soft matter, and computational/theoretical condensed matter.

It does not publish applied engineering work without clear physics content, chemistry-forward materials research without condensed matter physics framing, or work squarely within the scope of other APS journals.

PRB has editors (associate editors from the physics community) who screen submissions before sending to reviewers. Desk rejection happens when:

Scope mismatch. Engineering papers without condensed matter physics content, pure chemistry, or work that belongs in Physical Review Applied or Physical Review Materials instead of PRB.

Below the technical threshold. PRB expects contributions that advance the understanding of condensed matter systems. Papers presenting results without sufficient theoretical framing, or experiments without careful characterization, often don't make it past editorial screening.

Direct overlap with published work. If a closely related result was recently published in PRB or a comparable journal, editors may reject without review on grounds of insufficient novelty.

Formatting and presentation problems. Not a common reason, but papers submitted without meeting APS submission standards can be returned.

Desk decisions typically arrive within 2-3 weeks.

PRB uses single-blind peer review with typically one or two external referees from the condensed matter community. Reviewers receive approximately 4-6 weeks to respond, with extensions routinely granted.

What reviewers look for:

Technical correctness comes first. Condensed matter physicists are rigorous about methodology. For experimental papers: sample characterization, measurement reproducibility, appropriate statistical treatment. For theoretical papers: correctness of derivations, appropriate approximations, comparison with experiment or prior theory.

Contribution to the field. PRB accepts papers that are clear advances within condensed matter, even if narrow. You don't need broad significance. You do need to show why your result matters to the community studying your system.

Connection to existing literature. PRB reviewers have deep familiarity with recent work in the field. Missing key references or failing to distinguish your work from prior results is a red flag.

For papers entering full peer review, PRB typically takes 40-70 days to first decision. Based on author reports:

• Editorial screening: 10-20 days
• Reviewer recruitment and assignment: 5-10 days additional
• Review period: 30-45 days (often with extensions)
• Editorial decision after reviews: 5-10 days

Total: 50-80 days is common. Papers with reviewer delays or requests for extension can run longer.

This is slower than MDPI journals but consistent with other APS journals and society-published physics journals.

Accept: Clean acceptances are more common at PRB than at high-rejection journals. Papers with strong referee reports and no major technical concerns often get accepted after one round.

Minor revision: Requests for additional analysis, clearer presentation of data, or improved comparison with existing literature.

Major revision: New experiments, significant reanalysis, or substantial theoretical extension required.

Rejection with referee reports: Work is below the PRB threshold or needs fundamental rethinking. Reports are provided.

Rejection without review: Desk rejection, usually with a brief editorial note.

PRB has an appeals process. If you believe a decision was made in error (wrong referee, referee misunderstood key point), authors can appeal to the editor in chief. Appeals are occasionally successful when referee errors can be documented.

The 50-55% overall acceptance rate means PRB is not highly selective in absolute terms. Most technically sound condensed matter physics papers, with appropriate scope and adequate methodology, eventually find a home at PRB.

The selectivity is more about scope and minimum quality threshold than about competing with many other papers for limited slots. PRB publishes roughly 10,000-12,000 articles per year.

What PRB is not:

• A journal where impact and novelty drive selection (that's PRL)
• A journal where any technically correct paper will be accepted (that's some specialized open access journals)

What PRB is:

• The standard venue for solid, non-PRL-level condensed matter and materials physics research

Make sure your paper is clearly within condensed matter or materials physics scope. PRB does not compete with Physical Review Materials or Physical Review Applied - check which APS journal fits your work best before submitting.

Reference the most recent relevant papers. Reviewers will check this.

If you want an objective read before submitting, a Physical Review B submission readiness check checks your manuscript against PRB's specific criteria.

In our pre-submission review work evaluating manuscripts targeting Physical Review B, three patterns generate the most consistent desk rejections and review-round failures. Each reflects the journal's standard: technically correct condensed matter and materials physics with adequate theoretical framing, complete methodology, and clear distinction from prior published work.

Condensed matter experiment presented without physical interpretation. PRB expects papers that connect experimental observations to the condensed matter physics that explains them. The failure pattern is an experimental paper where the results section presents measured quantities, the discussion describes trends in the data, and the theoretical framing is either absent or consists of a paragraph citing models without applying them to the specific system studied. A paper characterizing the magnetic ordering of a new material class without discussing why the observed ordering is expected or unexpected in terms of crystal field theory, spin-orbit coupling, or exchange interactions gives reviewers nothing to evaluate at the physics level. Condensed matter physicists reviewing for PRB are specialists in the relevant theoretical frameworks and expect experimental data to be interpreted within those frameworks.

Scope misplacement within the APS journal family. The American Physical Society publishes PRB, Physical Review Applied, Physical Review Materials, and Physical Review E, and the boundaries between these journals matter at triage. The failure pattern is a materials synthesis or device characterization paper submitted to PRB where the primary content is fabrication, structural characterization, and performance metrics without the condensed matter physics analysis that PRB requires. A paper on thin film deposition with structural and optical characterization belongs in Physical Review Materials; a paper on a device exploiting quantum transport belongs in PRB only if the quantum transport physics is the central contribution. Editors familiar with the APS scope matrix identify these misplacements at the desk.

Inadequate comparison with recent published work. PRB reviewers have deep familiarity with the condensed matter literature in their specific subdiscipline. The failure pattern is a paper working on a system or question with a substantial published literature where the introduction does not cite and distinguish from the closest prior results, or where the results make claims that a reviewer recognizes as established in prior work. A paper on superconducting properties of a new compound in a family where fifteen related compounds have been studied in PRB will be read by a reviewer who knows all fifteen. Missing citations to the closest prior work, or failing to explain what the result adds beyond those papers, is the most common major revision trigger. A Physical Review B submission readiness check can identify citation gaps and novelty framing problems before submission.

The acceptance rate for Physical Review B does not distinguish between desk rejections and post-review rejections. A paper desk-rejected in 2 weeks and a paper rejected after 4 months of review both count the same. The rate also does not reveal how acceptance varies by article type, geographic origin, or research area within the journal's scope.

Acceptance rates cannot predict your individual odds. A strong paper with clear scope fit, complete data, and solid methodology has substantially better odds than the headline number suggests. A weak paper with methodology gaps will be rejected regardless of the journal's overall rate.

A Physical Review B submission readiness check identifies the specific framing and scope issues that trigger desk rejection before you submit.