Outstanding Referees program

The Outstanding Referee program recognizes scientists who have been exceptionally helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the APS journals.

By means of the program, APS expresses its appreciation to journal referees, whose efforts in peer review not only help to maintain the high standards of our journals, but also help authors to improve the quality and readability of their articles – even those that are not published by APS.

Every year, this highly selective program recognizes around 150 of over 90,000 active referees. Like APS Fellowship, this is a lifetime award.

Our Editors select the honorees based on the quality, number, and timeliness of their reports, without regard for membership in the APS, country of origin, or field of research. Referees are rewarded for their work carried out since 1978, the earliest year for which we have accurate data on referee reports returned. The decisions are difficult and there are many excellent referees who are still to be recognized.