Journal of Nonlinear Science

Journal of Nonlinear Science (commonly abbreviated as ''J. Nonlinear Sci.') is a peer-reviewed journal in applied mathematics and mathematical physics published by Springer. It was founded in 1991, its first issue appearing in February 1991, and was co-founded by scholars including A. S. Fokas of the University of Cambridge. Its current editors-in-chief are Anthony Bloch, Alain Goriely and Paul K. Newton, it appears six times a year, and its 2025 impact factor is 2.6.Journal of Nonlinear Science（常用缩写 J. Nonlinear Sci.）是施普林格出版的应用数学与理论物理领域同行评审期刊，创刊于 1991 年，1991 年 2 月出版第 1 卷第 1 期，由剑桥大学的 A. S. Fokas 等学者共同创办，现任主编为 Anthony Bloch、Alain Goriely 与 Paul K. Newton，每年出版六期，2025 年影响因子为 2.6。^[1]

Scope

Mission: The mission of the journal is to publish papers that augment the fundamental ways we describe, model and predict nonlinear phenomena. A paper must make an original contribution to at least one technical area and illuminate issues beyond that area's boundaries.办刊宗旨：该刊的宗旨是发表能够扩充我们描述、建模与预测非线性现象之基本方式的论文，投稿至少要在一个技术方向上作出原创贡献，并能照亮该方向边界之外的问题。*
Scope boundary: Even excellent papers in a narrow field of interest are not appropriate here, because the journal positions itself as a shared forum for nonlinear science across mathematics, physics, biology and engineering rather than as a title for one specialism.学科边界：即使是在狭窄研究兴趣领域内出色的论文，也不适合在该刊发表，因为它把自己定位为非线性科学这一跨越数学、物理、生物与工程各界的共同论坛，而非某个专门分支的刊物。*
Orientation: Papers can be oriented toward theory, experimentation, algorithms, numerical simulations or applications as long as the work is creative and sound. Excessively theoretical work in which the application to natural phenomena is not apparent, or in which no fundamental methodology is developed, is usually not appropriate.论文取向：论文可以面向理论、实验、算法、数值模拟或应用，前提是工作具有创造性且站得住脚；纯理论取向的论文若看不到对自然现象的应用或未推进基础方法，通常也不被接受。*
Writing requirements: In turn, papers oriented toward experimentation, numerical simulation or application must not simply report results without an indication of what a theoretical explanation might be. Because the subject is multidisciplinary, the introduction should be readable by a broad range of scientists and not only by specialists in the area.写作要求：反过来，面向实验、数值模拟或应用的论文不能只是报告结果而不指出可能的理论解释；由于学科具有多学科性质，论文的引言至少要让广泛领域的科学家读得懂，而不只是本方向的专家。*
Reading and access: Papers must be submitted in English and meet common standards of usage and grammar. The journal is published as a hybrid title, so subscribers read everything free of charge and authors may opt for open access, with manuscripts accepted after peer review.阅读与使用条件：论文须以英文投稿并符合通行的语法规范；该刊以混合出版模式发行，订阅用户可免费阅读全部内容，作者也可选择开放获取，稿件经同行评审后录用。*

这条判稿标准把「问题本身是否足够重要」提到了「方法是否足够先进」之前。一位作者若用最简单的技术回答了一个此前无人处理的问题，刊物仍会考虑；若用最精巧的技术回答了一个无关紧要的问题，则未必能通过。这条取向解释了为什么该刊的影响因子稳定在二点几分的区间，而其论文在应用数学界之外仍被持续引用。

History

1991: The journal was founded with its first issue appearing in February as volume 1, number 1, published by Springer and co-founded by scholars including A. S. Fokas, with both print and electronic editions offered from the start.1991 年：创刊，第 1 卷第 1 期于 2 月出版，出版方为 Springer，由 A. S. Fokas 等学者共同创办，早期卷次同时提供纸质版与电子版。*
The 1990s: In its early years the journal was complemented by a sister title, Nonlinear Science Today, which ran from 1991 to 1995 and carried review and comment material.1990 年代：创刊初期曾有一份姊妹刊 Nonlinear Science Today 与之配套，后者刊行于 1991 至 1995 年，用于集中发表综述与评论性质的文字。*
Publication rhythm: The journal has appeared six times a year throughout, reaching volume 35 in 2026, with issues dated February, April, June, August, October and December.出版节奏：历年均为每年六期，2026 年已至第 35 卷，卷期以二月、四月、六月、八月、十月与十二月为序。*
Indexing and access: The full text is available online from the founding volume onward, and the journal is abstracted and indexed in Mathematical Reviews, zbMATH, EI Compendex, INSPEC, the Science Citation Index Expanded, Scopus and DBLP.索引收录：全文自创刊卷起即可在线获取，并被数学评论、zbMATH、工程索引、INSPEC、科学引文索引扩展版、Scopus 与 DBLP 等数据库收录。*
Recent figures: The 2025 impact factor is 2.6 and the five-year impact factor is 3.0, the median time from submission to first decision is 9 days, and downloads in 2025 reached about 289,000.近年数据： 2025 年影响因子为 2.6，五年期影响因子为 3.0，投稿至首次决定的中位时长为 9 天，当年下载量约 28.9 万次。*

Editors

Editors-in-chief: There are three. Anthony Bloch is at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Michigan, Alain Goriely at the Mathematics Institute of the University of Oxford, and Paul K. Newton at the Departments of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and of Mathematics at the University of Southern California.主编：现任主编为三位。Anthony Bloch 任职于密歇根大学数学系，Alain Goriely 任职于牛津大学数学研究所，Paul K. Newton 任职于南加州大学航空航天与机械工程系并兼属该校数学系。*
Senior editors: The senior editors include scholars from the Department of Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, the Institute of Mechanical Systems at ETH Zurich, the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London, the Courant Institute at New York University, the Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology at the University of Oxford, the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and Princeton University, spanning applied mathematics, mechanics and theoretical biology.资深编辑：资深编辑包括来自卡内基梅隆大学数学系、苏黎世联邦理工学院机械系统研究所、帝国理工学院数学系、纽约大学库朗数学研究所、牛津大学沃尔夫森数学生物学中心、洛桑联邦理工学院与普林斯顿大学的学者，覆盖应用数学、力学与理论生物学多个分支。*
Board composition: Board members come from universities and research institutes in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary and Japan, and the list also includes scholars at medical research institutions, so that nonlinear methods reach the journal from pure mathematics, engineering and biomedicine alike.编委构成：编委成员来自美国、英国、德国、匈牙利、日本等国的高校与研究机构，同时包括医学研究机构中的学者，使非线性方法的来源覆盖纯数学、工程与生物医学两端。*
Submission and collections: Submissions are handled on Springer Nature's newer article submission platform, which replaced the previous Editorial Manager system, and authors are asked to suggest at least two suitable editors in their cover letter. In 2026 the journal ran a collection in memory of the late Robert V. Kohn.投稿与专集：投稿在施普林格新的文章处理平台上完成，取代了原有的 Editorial Manager 系统，作者须在投稿信中建议至少两位合适的编委；2026 年该刊设有纪念已故学者 Robert V. Kohn 的专辑。^[2]

References