Advanced Photonics Research: A Comprehensive Guide for Authors and Readers

Advanced Photonics Research is a gold open access, peer-reviewed scientific journal devoted to photonics and optics, published by Wiley-VCH in Germany as part of the company's Advanced Portfolio of collaborative journals. Launched in 2020, the journal welcomes novel, significant, and fundamental research spanning theory and experiment through applications, devices, and systems, positioning itself as a global forum for advancing photonics research across academia and industry.

Publication history and publisher context

Advanced Photonics Research was introduced by Wiley-VCH in 2020 as an open access title within the Advanced Portfolio, a family of journals that Wiley describes as disseminating leading science from established and emerging researchers. The journal's first volume appeared in 2020, and by 2026 it was publishing its seventh volume, confirming continuous operation over six full years. Coverage in the Directory of Open Access Journals begins in 2020, matching the launch year.

The Advanced Portfolio context matters for authors evaluating the title: it is a group of thematically focused journals, several of which carry the "Advanced" brand, and Advanced Photonics Research is the portfolio's dedicated venue for photonics and optics. The journal page states that it provides "a global forum for advancing photonics research," inviting work from fundamental theory to device and systems-level applications.

Authors should not confuse this Wiley title with other similarly named journals. Advanced Photonics (ISSN 2577-5421) is a separate, co-published journal of SPIE and Chinese Laser Press, launched in 2019 and also open access. Advanced Photonics Nexus (ISSN 2791-1519) is the SPIE/Chinese Laser Press sister journal launched in 2022. Advanced Photonics Research is the Wiley-VCH title with ISSN 2699-9293; the three journals share a field but have different publishers, editorial teams, and submission systems.

Aims and scope

According to the Wiley journal page, Advanced Photonics Research welcomes "manuscripts spanning novel, significant, and fundamental research from theory and experiment to applications, devices, and systems." The scope therefore covers the full photonics spectrum:

• Fundamental photonics and optics: light–matter interaction, optical forces and trapping, quantum photonics, ultrafast optics, nonlinear optics.
• Photonic materials and nanophotonics: metasurfaces, metamaterials, plasmonics, photonic crystals, 2D materials for photonic devices.
• Devices and integration: lasers, photodetectors, modulators, waveguides, fiber optics, integrated photonic circuits, thin-film lithium niobate platforms.
• Applied and biophotonics: optical imaging, biosensing, optical chaos and secure communications, terahertz applications, neuromodulation.
• Systems: optical communications, lidar, sensing systems, chip-level optical interconnects.

The DOAJ record lists the journal's keywords as photonics, optics, biophotonics, electrooptics, and optofluidics, and classifies it under applied optics/photonics in engineering and optics/light in physics. Recent issues illustrate the breadth: research articles on metalenses, self-rolled Bragg reflectors, terahertz-driven neural regeneration, ultrafast terahertz dynamics in van der Waals superconductors, optical forces on microparticles, and quantum entangled photon-pair generation from van der Waals materials — alongside review articles on topics such as optical chaos generation and polarization management on thin-film lithium niobate. This mix of research articles and reviews is representative of the journal's regular content.

Editorial leadership

The Wiley journal page names Duoduo Liang as Editor-in-Chief and Christina Sharp as Deputy Editor. Christina Sharp also appears as a deputy editor of the sister title Advanced Optical Materials, suggesting an editorial team that spans several photonics titles in the portfolio. Readers and prospective authors who want the full current editorial and advisory boards should consult the live journal page on the Wiley Online Library, since board rosters rotate and the most reliable masthead is the one the publisher maintains online.

Peer review and publishing model

The journal operates a fully open access model: every article is immediately free to read, download, and share under the Creative Commons CC BY license, and authors retain unrestricted copyright. The DOAJ record (publisher-reported data) describes the peer review model as anonymous peer review, meaning reviewers' identities are not disclosed to authors, and states that the journal checks submissions for plagiarism. The publisher reports an average of 11 weeks from submission to publication in DOAJ — a figure that reflects the journal's own reporting and should be treated as indicative rather than guaranteed, since review times vary by article type and season.

The article processing charge, as reported by the publisher to DOAJ, is up to USD 3,380 / GBP 2,290 / EUR 2,900, and a waiver policy is in place for these charges. Authors whose institutions hold a Wiley Open Access Account may have part or all of the APC covered, and automatic waivers or discounts can apply for corresponding authors from institutions in eligible countries. Because APC figures change periodically, authors should confirm the current charge on the Wiley author page before submitting.

The Wiley journal page displays headline performance figures: a Journal Impact Factor of 4.0, an 85% acceptance rate, and a median of 34 days to first decision. These are publisher-displayed metrics shown on the journal's own page; they are reproduced here as reported by the publisher, not as independently verified values. Metric snapshots from secondary directories (Scite/OpenAlex-derived h-index figures around 46, two-year cites-per-paper around 3.0) are aggregator estimates and are attributed as such — they should not be confused with Clarivate's Journal Impact Factor.

Indexing and archiving

Per secondary directory listings, Advanced Photonics Research is indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) of the Web of Science, DOAJ, and UGC CARE, among others; coverage should be confirmed directly against the live index databases, since indexation listings evolve. Long-term preservation is handled through CLOCKSS and Portico, with each article carrying a permanent DOI — a solid archiving arrangement for an online-only open access journal.

The journal's ISSN, 2699-9293, is registered for the title and used in both its online and print designations on the Wiley page; in practice the journal publishes electronically, with articles appearing continuously in numbered monthly issues and collected into annual volumes.

How to submit: practical guidance for authors

Submission is handled through Wiley's standard manuscript system, reachable from the journal's homepage at onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26999293. Practical points for prospective authors:

• Fit check: The journal seeks novel, significant, and fundamental contributions; applied and device work is welcome when it advances the field, not only when it reports incremental device tweaks. Scan recent issues for comparable work before writing the cover letter.
• Article types: The journal publishes Research Articles and Review Articles; confirm the current accepted types and any length limits in the author guidelines before drafting.
• Open access costs: Budget for the APC (currently listed up to USD 3,380 / GBP 2,290 / EUR 2,900, with waivers and institutional agreements potentially reducing the cost). Confirm the figure and your eligibility for waivers at submission time.
• Timeline planning: The publisher reports roughly 11 weeks from submission to publication and a median of 34 days to first decision; plan around these publisher-reported figures while allowing margin for revision rounds.
• Licensing: Articles are published under CC BY, which permits reuse with attribution — check that this license is compatible with any funder mandates before submitting.
• Originality screening: The journal states that it checks for plagiarism; ensure all quoted or reproduced material is properly cited and permissions obtained.

Notable content and thematic coverage

Recent volumes show a journal that tracks the field's moving frontiers. Recurring themes in 2025–2026 issues include:

• Metasurfaces and nanophotonics: propagation-type metalenses with fabrication-error analysis; deterministic fractal plasmonic metasurfaces for mid-infrared molecular biosensing; switchable VO2-integrated terahertz metasurfaces.
• Quantum and ultrafast photonics: entangled photon-pair generation from van der Waals NbOI₂ flakes; ultrafast terahertz dynamics in hybrid superconductor–topological insulator metamaterials.
• Biophotonics and sensing: terahertz neuromodulation and neural regeneration; optical force-based nanoparticle sorting; hollow-core fiber beam shaping.
• Integrated and fiber optics: thin-film lithium niobate polarization management; femtosecond-laser-written 3D glass waveguide chips; lensless beam shaping from anti-resonant hollow-core fibers.
• Review coverage: optical chaos generation and applications; polarization management on anisotropic thin-film lithium niobate; long-wavelength infrared detector surveys.

For readers, the journal's value lies in this combination of fundamental optics and device-oriented research within a single open access venue; for authors, the thematic mix signals where editorial attention currently concentrates.

Frequently asked questions

Is Advanced Photonics Research open access?

Yes. It is a fully open access journal published under the CC BY license; all articles are free to read, download, and share, and authors retain copyright.

Who publishes Advanced Photonics Research?

Wiley-VCH GmbH (Weinheim, Germany), as part of Wiley's Advanced Portfolio of journals.

What is the impact factor of Advanced Photonics Research?

The Wiley journal page displays a Journal Impact Factor of 4.0. This is a publisher-displayed figure; authors seeking an independently verified figure should consult the current Journal Citation Reports.

How much does it cost to publish?

The publisher reports an APC of up to USD 3,380 / GBP 2,290 / EUR 2,900 to DOAJ, with a waiver policy and possible institutional coverage. Confirm the current charge on the Wiley author page.

How long does review take?

The publisher reports a median of 34 days to first decision (journal page) and an average of 11 weeks from submission to publication (DOAJ). Both are publisher-reported and indicative only.

Is this the same journal as Advanced Photonics (SPIE)?

No. Advanced Photonics Research (ISSN 2699-9293) is published by Wiley-VCH. Advanced Photonics (ISSN 2577-5421) is co-published by SPIE and Chinese Laser Press. They are separate journals with different editorial teams.

What article types does the journal accept?

Research Articles and Review Articles feature regularly; check the current author guidelines for the complete list and formatting requirements.

Where is the journal indexed?

Directory listings place it in ESCI, DOAJ, and UGC CARE; verify current coverage in the live index databases before citing indexation in evaluations.

What license applies to published articles?

Articles are published under the Creative Commons CC BY license and authors retain unrestricted copyright, so published work can be freely shared, deposited in institutional repositories, and reused with attribution — subject only to the license terms.

Peer review in practice: what the journal states

The publisher's DOAJ record describes the evaluation model as anonymous peer review with plagiarism screening. In Wiley's practice for its Advanced Portfolio titles, manuscripts typically pass through an initial editorial assessment — checking fit with the journal's scope, originality, and basic technical soundness — before being sent to independent experts in the relevant subfield. The publisher-displayed median of 34 days to first decision and the DOAJ-reported average of 11 weeks from submission to publication suggest a comparatively brisk editorial pipeline, though these figures are the publisher's own reporting and individual manuscripts can take longer, especially when reviewers request additional experiments or major revisions.

For authors, the practical implications are straightforward: prepare a complete, self-contained manuscript, because the journal's positioning rewards papers that combine theoretical grounding with experimental demonstration or clear application relevance. Cover letters should articulate the advance over the state of the art in one or two sentences, since editors at selective portfolio journals triage on novelty and significance before detailed review begins.

Milestones in the journal's short history

Because Advanced Photonics Research is a young journal, its history is compact and fully documented in its own archive:

• 2020 — Launch. Volume 1 appears; the journal begins publishing open access from day one and is listed in DOAJ with coverage starting in 2020.
• 2020–2023 — Portfolio growth. The journal builds its archive across fundamentals and applications, adding reviews alongside research articles; monthly numbered issues establish a regular cadence.
• 2024–2025 — Metrics maturity. The journal page begins displaying a Journal Impact Factor (currently shown as 4.0) along with acceptance-rate and turnaround figures, signaling that the title has accumulated enough citation history to be tracked.
• 2026 — Volume 7. Issues continue monthly; recent covers highlight metalenses, terahertz neuromodulation, and quantum photonic devices — a snapshot of where the field, and the journal, currently concentrate.

The Advanced Portfolio context

Advanced Photonics Research does not stand alone: it belongs to Wiley's Advanced Portfolio, a family of journals built around the "Advanced" brand that includes titles such as Advanced Materials, Advanced Optical Materials, Advanced Electronic Materials, and Advanced Science. The portfolio model has practical consequences for authors. Manuscripts that are strong but not quite right for one title can be considered within the portfolio's ecosystem; editorial teams and deputy editors sometimes span multiple titles (the deputy editor named for Advanced Photonics Research also serves in that role for a sibling photonics title); and authors gain access to a shared readership of materials- and device-oriented researchers. Understanding this context helps authors position their work: papers with a strong materials or device angle may find a natural audience across portfolio titles, while purely theoretical photonics work should foreground its novelty to clear the significance bar.

Reading the journal: a navigation guide

New readers can get oriented quickly:

• Start with the cover articles. Each issue's cover highlights an editorially selected paper; recent covers (metalens error analysis, self-rolled Bragg reflectors, terahertz neuromodulation, van der Waals superconductor dynamics) map the journal's current center of gravity.
• Use the review articles as field primers. Reviews on optical chaos, thin-film lithium niobate polarization management, and long-wavelength infrared detectors are written to be accessible entry points into fast-moving subfields.
• Follow the DOI prefix. All articles carry DOIs under 10.1002/adpr, so any citation of the form 10.1002/adpr.xxxxx resolves to this journal — a quick way to confirm a reference's venue.
• Check open access status by default. Because the entire journal is open access under CC BY, every article can be read and downloaded without a subscription; there is no paywalled backfile to navigate.

What is not publicly disclosed

In line with a no-fabrication policy, the following could not be verified from public sources at the time of writing and are left unstated rather than guessed: the full current editorial and advisory board roster (consult the live Wiley page); acceptance-rate methodology behind the displayed 85% figure; article-level download and citation data; the journal's current-year Clarivate impact factor beyond the publisher-displayed 4.0; and any changes to the APC schedule after the DOAJ-reported figures.

How this journal fits the photonics publishing landscape

The photonics literature is served by a crowded field of journals, from society flagships to broad open access mega-journals. Advanced Photonics Research occupies a distinctive middle position: more selective than the largest multidisciplinary OA venues, but more inclusive and faster than the most exclusive photonics flagships. Its open access model gives it a discoverability advantage over subscription titles in the same topical space, while the Advanced Portfolio branding signals an editorial standard familiar to materials and device researchers. For authors deciding between this journal and alternatives, the decision typically turns on three factors: whether the work needs the visibility of immediate open access, whether its contribution is significant enough to clear a portfolio-level novelty bar, and whether the topic sits comfortably within photonics and optics rather than in a neighboring field like pure materials science or electrical engineering. Papers at the boundaries — optofluidics, biophotonics, photonic materials — are explicitly within scope, but authors should frame them with the photonics advance front and center.

Sources and verification note

This profile was compiled from the official Wiley Online Library journal page (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26999293), the DOAJ record for ISSN 2699-9293, and bibliographic directory listings (Editage, journalsearches, Resurchify, ScienceAI Journal) used only for attributed metric snapshots. Figures attributed to the publisher or to named directories are reported as stated by those sources and were not independently audited. Readers should verify time-sensitive details — APCs, metrics, indexing, and editorial personnel — on the live journal page before acting on them.