Physical Review B (PRB) is the largest and most comprehensive international journal specializing in condensed-matter phenomena. PRB appears monthly in two sections, B1 and B15; each section is further divided into two parts. B1: Structure, phase transitions, ferroelectrics, nonordered systems, quantum solids, magnetism, superconductivity, superfluidity. B15: Electronic structure, photonic crystals, semiconductors, mesoscopic systems, surfaces, clusters, fullerenes, nanoscience.
This document contains information about this online service. It introduces recently added new features, describes the available services, and provides information users may find helpful in getting started. As part of an Online Help compendium the present document refers to Scitation. Scitation houses the current year of journal content plus the previous three years. Earlier volumes are contained in the Physical Review Online Archive
(PROLA), for which a separate document is
available (see About PROLA).
While many features of this online service are freely available, some require a
personal or institutional subscription. If you are able to access full-text articles and view linked references without being prompted for a password and username, you are doing so via a subscription paid for by your library or institution.
icon will be displayed on all FREE TO READ articles. The full text (pdf) will be available without a subscription. See
http://publish.aps.org/FREETOREAD_FAQ.html for more information.
Physical Review B is published electronically one article at a time. Four new issues are "opened" at the beginning of a month and as articles complete the production process they are published in those issues depending on section and subject matter (see above). The issues are "closed" at the end of the month. PRB publishes four issues per month (24 issues per volume, 2 volumes per year).
Users can select from a list of all available volumes and browse any HTML TOC, read abstracts, and view PDF (and PostScript) articles (or place a document delivery order). Physical Review B offers the following features:
Available Volumes
- Direct access to the Tables of Contents of recent issues including the latest, open issue.
- Browse the list of articles accepted for publication (ordered by month of acceptance). The abstracts of electronically submitted articles are also available. These can be found on the homepage in the drop down menu of Recent and Future Issues below the current issue(s).
- Access to the issue index of any volume in the current year plus the previous three years.
- Access to earlier volumes via the Physical Review Online Archive (PROLA).
Tables of Contents
- Browse an HTML version of the Table of Contents (TOC) of any issue, including the latest open issue. The HTML TOCs contain hyperlinks from individual titles to the abstract of each title as well as options to view full-text PDF or PostScript articles and place both online and offline document delivery orders. For more information on viewing and printing PostScript files, consult the Online Help specific to working with compressed PostScript.
- Browse PDF versions of the TOCs for the last few years, which contain weblinks to the HTML abstracts.
Abstracts
- The abstract "view" shows bibliographic information including the citation, title, author name(s), and abstract. In addition, author affiliation(s), PACS categories, and hyperlinked references are available as well as links to the full-text PDF or PostScript version of the article (see below).
- Reference sections are available in the abstracts for subscribers. They include links to those citations available in PROLA, AIP's SPIN database, IEE's INSPEC database, and the arXiv.org E-print archive. Read Reference Sections and Reference Linking in Abstracts for more information.
- From the abstract "view," users can view the full-text PDF or PostScript version of the article, including all figures, tables, and references. Or, an "Order Document" link will allow users to place an order for online or offline document delivery.
- Links to related papers are available in the abstracts; that is, crosslinks within a series of papers (Papers I, II, etc.), from a Comment to the Article commented on and its Reply, and from an Article to its Erratum (and in most cases, the link are bidirectional; that is, the Comment features a link to the Reply and vice versa). For more information, read Related-Paper ("See Also") Citations and Links in Abstracts in Online Help.
- "Citing Articles" links are available in the abstract for subscribers. These links appear after the Reference Section, and contain links to articles residing on either Scitation or PROLA that cite the article currently being viewed. Read Reference Sections and Reference Linking in Abstracts for more information.
- A tabular array containing additional bibliographic information can be accessed by following the "Additional Information" link appearing after the PACS numbers.
Searching
- Search a "Current Issue" database which includes the most recently closed issue plus the issue currently building. Since PRB has four issues open at one time (B1 and B15 each have two parts), the current search will include the four open (building) issues plus the four most recently closed.
- Search a database covering recent volumes (i.e., the current year plus the previous three years of contents).
- Search a database of earlier volumes in the Physical Review Online Archive (PROLA).
- An Author Search Interface is available for effective searching on names with initials.
Free Access to Some Areas
- The Tables of Contents (PDF and HTML), the abstract view and searching of articles are not password protected. Password/username will only be requested for viewing full text and references, and entrance to AIP's SPIN database via the Search SPIN database link appearing on the search pages. When a password/username does apply, it is requested only once per "session." A "session" is the period between successful login (authentication) and logout (exiting), or 15 minutes of "idle" time (after which the user is automatically logged out). Password/username is NOT requested, at any point, for access via an institutional subscription.
Important Links
- The “Accepted Papers” tab on the home page provides access to listings of papers to appear in future issues of Physical Review B.
- The home page provides links to other online APS journals and to the Physical Review Online Archive (PROLA).
Other Features
- A password-changing mechanism is available for individual users. For access, click here and, for more information, consult the Online Help.
- An "Exit" button (or textual equivalent) appears at the bottom of all PRB pages. The login system tracks the number of concurrent users on the system (i.e., the number of logins per login name). There are limits that are set per user and per institutional login. In order to free up a "slot" for the next user, it is recommended that you use the "Exit" button. If you do not, the next person logging in from your institution may not be able to access the service for up to 15 minutes.
Here is a recommended checklist for first-time PRB users:
- Make sure you have a current
browser
that supports (a) authentication (login and password),
(b) HTML
forms (for database queries), (c) HTML tables,
(d) JavaScript
(JavaScript support must be enabled to take full advantage of all
Article
Collection functions, as well as some functions of the
reference-linking,
related-article-linking,
and user-interface enhancing functions), and
(e) cookies.
IMPORTANT: Authentication requires that cookies be enabled in a cookie-capable browser; more information is available in the Online Help. While several other browsers are "Netscape-compliant," and their use should allow you to take full advantage of all of the journal's features, we recommend Netscape Navigator (more details are available from the Online Help page). As stated, authentication is required in order to enforce the publisher's subscription controls over its journals. This control is based on Netscape software products, and depends on the Netscape "cookie" mechanism (please refer to the PRB FAQ for more information on cookies) to authenticate and track both individual and institutional users throughout the system. While browsers that do not support this mechanism may function adequately, technical support in regard to authentication problems will NOT be extended to users who are not running either Netscape Navigator (version 2.0 or higher) or Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 2.0 or higher).
- To view full-text
PDF
versions of PRB articles, as well as PDF versions of
issue tables of contents, you must have one of
the following applications:
- the Adobe Acrobat Reader,
- the Adobe Acrobat Reader browser
plug-in,
- Adobe Acrobat Exchange, or
- another "viewer" that can display or otherwise manipulate PDF files.
- the Adobe Acrobat Reader,
- To view full-text PostScript versions of articles, you must have a PostScript viewer or any other application that enables you to otherwise manipulate PostScript files [all PostScript files delivered via Scitation (i.e., the last few years of contents) are in compressed ("gzipped") format]. More information is available from the Online Help regarding working with compressed PostScript.
- PRB has been designed for Internet access corresponding to a 14,400 bps or faster modem connection. Tips on configuring your browser for slower connections (and to optimize any connection) are available from the Online Help page.
- Consult the PRB FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for a compendium of capsulized information about PRB.
- Consult the Online Help, especially with regard to using the Acrobat products in conjunction with your browser, and for detailed tutorials on how to search the PRB databases.