Our mission as a not-for-profit society publisher is to recognise, publish, and promote excellence in science. In celebration of outstanding scientific achievements and the researchers behind them, we are proud to present the top-cited articles from each of the Royal Society journals published in 2023.
Philosophical Transactions A
Philosophical Transactions A publishes high quality theme issues on topics of current importance and general interest guest-edited by leading authorities, but within the physical, mathematical and engineering sciences.
The journal’s top-cited paper, Quantum annealing: An overview by Atanu Rajak, Sei Suzuki, Amit Dutta and Bikas K. Chakrabarti, explains the basic concept of quantum annealing (or adiabatic quantum computation) and highlights recent theoretical and experimental developments, focusing on ongoing debates.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Quantum annealing and computation: challenges and perspectives’.
Philosophical Transactions B
Continuing its long history of influential scientific publishing, Philosophical Transactions B publishes high quality theme issues on topics of current importance and general interest within the life sciences, guest-edited by leading authorities and comprising new research, reviews and opinions from prominent researchers.
It’s top-cited article, The future of theoretical evolutionary game theory by Arne Traulsen and Nikoleta E. Glynatsi, explores the interdisciplinary nature of evolutionary game theory, its application across biology, social science, and computer science, and the challenges and opportunities for unifying insights and approaches across these fields.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Half a century of evolutionary games: a synthesis of theory, application and future directions’.
Proceedings A
Proceedings A publishes articles across the chemical, computational, Earth, engineering, mathematical, and physical sciences. The journal publishes research papers, as well as short reviews containing original and interesting new ideas.
The top-cited article from this journal, Physics-informed dynamic mode decomposition by Peter J. Baddoo, Benjamin Herrmann, Beverley J. McKeon, J. Nathan Kutz and Steven L. Brunton, demonstrates how physical principles—such as symmetries, invariances and conservation laws—can be integrated into the dynamic mode decomposition.
Proceedings B
Proceedings B is the Royal Society’s flagship biological research journal, accepting original articles and reviews of outstanding scientific importance and broad general interest.
It’s top-cited article, Practical advice on variable selection and reporting using Akaike information criterion by Chris Sutherland, Darragh Hare, Paul J. Johnson, Daniel W. Linden, Robert A. Montgomery and Egil Droge, addresses common misunderstandings about the Akaike Information Criterion in ecological model selection.
Royal Society Open Science
Royal Society Open Science is an open journal publishing high-quality original research across the entire range of science on the basis of objective peer-review, welcoming the submission of all high-quality science including articles which may usually be difficult to publish elsewhere, such as replications or those that include negative findings.
It’s top-cited paper, Why and how to embrace AI such as ChatGPT in your academic life by Zhicheng Lin, presents a how-to guide for employing LLMs in academic settings, focusing on their unique strengths, constraints and implications through the lens of philosophy of science and epistemology.
Interface
Interface welcomes articles of high-quality research at the interface of the physical and life sciences, providing a high-quality forum to publish rapidly and interact across this boundary, and it is one of the only journals to cover this exciting new territory.
The top-cited paper from this journal, A critical review on applications of the Avrami equation beyond materials science by Kiana Shirzad and Christopher Viney, explores the application of the Avrami equation, originally developed for phase transformations in materials, to diverse fields such as life sciences and epidemiology, highlighting its effectiveness, limitations, and parallels with models like the SIR framework.
Interface Focus
Each Interface Focus themed issue is devoted to a particular subject at the interface of the physical and life sciences. Formed of high-quality articles, they aim to facilitate cross-disciplinary research across this traditional divide by acting as a forum accessible to all.
The journal’s top-cited article, On Bayesian mechanics: a physics of and by beliefs by Maxwell J. D. Ramstead†, Dalton A. R. Sakthivadivel†, Conor Heins, Magnus Koudahl, Beren Millidge, Lancelot Da Costa, Brennan Klein and Karl J. Friston, introduces Bayesian mechanics, a probabilistic framework for modelling systems as if they estimate posterior probabilities, reviews its connection to the free energy principle, and explores its applications, underlying dualities, and implications.
Biology Letters
Launched in response to the need from the community for short and rapid communications, Biology Letters is an online, peer-reviewed journal that publishes short, high-quality articles, reviews and opinion pieces from across the biological sciences.
It’s top-cited paper, Beetle elytra: evolution, modifications and biological functions by Jakub Goczał and Rolf G. Beutel, explores the evolution, development, modifications, and diverse biological functions of beetle elytra, highlighting their role as a key adaptation that has driven the extraordinary diversification and success of beetles.
Open Biology
Open Biology is a fully open access journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, immunology, microbiology and genetics.
The journal’s top-cited paper, Short chain fatty acids: key regulators of the local and systemic immune response in inflammatory diseases and infections by Lisa-Marie Ney†, Maximilian Wipplinger†, Martha Grossmann†, Nicole Engert, Valentin D. Wegner and Alexander S. Mosig, reviews the role of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in regulating immune responses, cellular metabolism, and the gut-brain, gut-lung, and gut-liver axes, emphasising their potential therapeutic applications in inflammatory diseases and infections, and the use of advanced organ models for further study.
Our journals continue to achieve high levels of citations and downloads year on year. Find out more about the benefits of publishing with the Royal Society.
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Image credits:
Philosophical Transactions A: Expansion of life. Credit: berya113, iStock.
Philosophical Transactions B : Spot-fin porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix) being cleaned by Bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) at a cleaning station, Bali, Indonesia. Credit: hansgertbroeder/iStock.
Proceedings A: Visual illustrations of the types of matrices, their corresponding physical principles and references to the solutions of the corresponding optimization problem. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2022.0576
Proceedings B: The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is an iconic European species that is experiencing mass mortality events following introductions of the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. Photo credit: Wouter Beukema. Published in Proc. R Soc. B (https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0510).
Royal Society Open Science: Conceptual background of Artificial intelligence , humans and cyber-business on programming technology element ,3d illustration. Monsitj, iStock.
Interface: Schematic representations of diffusion-controlled growth. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2023.0242
Interface Focus: llustration of fibre bundles, sections and transformations. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2022.0029
Biology Letters: Black and Brown Insect on Green Leaf. Pixabay.com
Open Biology: Inflammation concept, human tissues 3d rendering. iStock.
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