Journal profile
Applied Physics Letters
Applied Physics Letters is published by American Institute of Physics under ISSN 0003-6951. It holds an h-index of 562 across 142,223 indexed works, with a two-year mean citedness of 3.95, and is not fully open access. Its main subject areas are Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices, Semiconductor materials and devices, Photonic and Optical Devices.
Below: the full publication record, and one real article from the journal formatted in IEEE, APA, and BibTeX so you can match field order against a source you can check.
Publication record and impact metrics
| Publisher | American Institute of Physics |
|---|---|
| ISSN-L | 0003-6951 |
| All ISSNs | 0003-6951, 1077-3118, 1520-8842 |
| Indexed works | 142,223 |
| Total citations | 6,141,141 |
| h-index | 562 |
| 2-year mean citedness | 3.95 |
| Open access | Not fully open access |
| Main topics | Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices · Semiconductor materials and devices · Photonic and Optical Devices · GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials · ZnO doping and properties |
Publication figures come from this journal's OpenAlex record, released under CC0, and are a dated snapshot rather than a live count. Check the publisher for current scope and submission requirements.
A worked example from this journal
The source
Organic electroluminescent diodes
- Authors
- Chak Wah Tang, S. A. VanSlyke
- Year
- 1987
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 913-915
IEEE
C. W. Tang, S. A. VanSlyke "Organic electroluminescent diodes," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 51, no. 12, pp. 913-915, 1987, doi: 10.1063/1.98799.
IEEE prints author initials before the surname and abbreviates the periodical title. Check the abbreviation for Applied Physics Letters against your target publication's reference list before submitting.
APA
Tang, C. W., & VanSlyke, S. A. (1987). Organic electroluminescent diodes. Applied Physics Letters, 51(12), 913-915. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.98799
APA puts the year directly after the authors, keeps the full journal title in italics, and renders the DOI as a URL.
BibTeX
@article{tang1987,
author = {Chak Wah Tang and S. A. VanSlyke},
title = {Organic electroluminescent diodes},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
volume = {51},
number = {12},
pages = {913--915},
year = {1987},
issn = {0003-6951},
doi = {10.1063/1.98799}
}The citation key is the first author's surname and the year. Keep it stable once it appears in a draft, because renaming it breaks every cite that used it.
What to verify before you submit
- The volume and page range. Applied Physics Letters records 142,223 works, and articles published online first can carry a different volume from the final issue. Cite the version you read.
- The abbreviated title. IEEE style uses standard periodical abbreviations, and registry metadata almost always returns the full name instead.
- Author name order. Registry records store full given names; IEEE and APA both want initials, formatted differently from each other.
- Whether the article is open access. This journal is not fully open access, which affects whether a reader can reach the version you cited.
- That the source supports your claim. A correctly formatted reference says nothing about whether the passage backs the sentence citing it.
How this journal sits in the record
Applied Physics Letters carries an h-index of 562, which is above 91% of the journals covered here, and its articles have accumulated 6,141,141 citations across 142,223 indexed works. Its two-year mean citedness is 3.95.
6 of the journals covered here are published by American Institute of Physics. Reference style is set per title rather than per publisher, so do not carry a format across from a sibling journal without checking.
These are indexing figures describing how often work in this venue is cited. They say nothing about whether a particular article is sound, and they are not a substitute for reading it.
Questions about Applied Physics Letters
What is the ISSN of Applied Physics Letters?
The linking ISSN is 0003-6951. The journal also carries 1077-3118 and 1520-8842, which usually separate the print and electronic editions. Use the linking ISSN in a BibTeX issn field.
Who publishes Applied Physics Letters?
American Institute of Physics publishes it. 6 journals covered here come from the same publisher, and they do not all share one reference style, so check the requirements for this title rather than the publisher.
Is Applied Physics Letters open access?
OpenAlex does not record it as fully open access. Some articles may still be open individually, so check the specific article rather than assuming from the journal.
How do I cite an article from Applied Physics Letters in LaTeX?
Use the BibTeX entry above as the pattern. The entry type is article, the journal field holds the full title, and the citation key tang1987 follows the first author's surname and the year. Brace any acronym in the title so your bibliography style does not lowercase it.
Does Applied Physics Letters use page numbers or article numbers?
The example article runs from page 913 to 915, so this journal used page ranges at least for that volume. Newer issues in many journals switched to article numbers, so check the version you are citing.
How influential is Applied Physics Letters?
Its h-index is 562, above 91% of the journals covered here, and its articles have been cited 6,141,141 times in total. Its two-year mean citedness is 3.95. These are indexing figures, not a judgement of whether a specific article is sound.
Does Applied Physics Letters have a Journal Impact Factor?
Not one shown here. The Journal Impact Factor is Clarivate's metric, published in Journal Citation Reports and readable only with a JCR subscription, so this page does not restate it. The figures above come from OpenAlex: an h-index of 562 and a two-year mean citedness of 3.95 across 142,223 indexed works, captured on 2026-09-18. Mean citedness averages citations per work over a two-year window, which makes it closer in construction to CiteScore than to the Impact Factor. The three are not interchangeable, so quote whichever one your target venue actually asks for.