About Peking Mathematical Journal

Peking Mathematical Journal

Peking Mathematical Journal (PMJ) is a research journal in pure mathematics launched by Peking University in Beijing and operated by the university's Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research (BICMR) and its School of Mathematical Sciences. Founded in September 2018, it is one of the newest English-language mathematics journals sponsored by a Chinese university, and one of the most ambitious: its stated aim is to publish research papers of high quality and originality across all core topics of pure mathematics, and within three years of its founding it had attracted papers by some of the world's most decorated mathematicians and earned a Tier 1 classification on the Chinese Mathematical Society's list of high-quality mathematical journals. It is published internationally through Springer, whose journal platform is its official website.

Identity and bibliographic record

The journal's print ISSN is 2096-6075 and its electronic ISSN is 2524-7182, with the Chinese national publication number CN 10-1587/O1 recorded by Peking University. Copyright in the journal is held by Peking University, and its articles carry DOIs in Springer's 10.1007/s42543 series, the number 42543 being Springer's journal code for PMJ. Archiving services including Portico preserve the title under both ISSNs with Springer as publisher of record for preservation purposes. The journal should not be confused with other Peking University titles or with the broader Global Science Press mathematics list under which some directories group Chinese mathematics journals; PMJ's own record is specific — a Peking University journal, operated by BICMR and the School of Mathematical Sciences, distributed by Springer.

Founding in 2018 and early volumes

Peking University's School of Mathematical Sciences records that the journal was founded in September 2018. By September 2021, its third anniversary, it had published four volumes comprising ten issues, with further papers published online ahead of issue assignment. That early record is notable for the calibre of its authors: the university's anniversary account names contributors including Michael Freedman, a Fields Medal winner; János Kollár, an International Congress of Mathematicians plenary speaker and member of the United States National Academy of Sciences; Rahul Pandharipande, also an ICM plenary speaker; and Christopher Hacon, a National Academy member and Breakthrough Prize winner. For a journal only three years old to publish mathematicians of that standing signalled that its editors could attract submissions at the highest level, the single hardest problem any new mathematics journal faces.

Aims and scope: all core topics of pure mathematics

The journal's aims, stated identically by Peking University and by its SciOpen journal page, are to publish research papers with broad scope including all core topics of pure mathematics, with all contributions required to meet high standards of quality and originality. Pure mathematics here means the foundational branches of the subject — algebra, number theory, geometry, topology, analysis and their internal developments — pursued for their mathematical significance rather than for an immediate application. Springer summarises the journal in the same terms, as dedicated to publishing research papers covering all core topics of pure mathematics, under a hybrid publishing model in which authors can choose subscription or open-access routes where offered. The breadth is deliberate: rather than specialising in one branch, PMJ aims to be a general journal of record for pure mathematics from its Peking University base, in the tradition of the leading generalist journals of Europe and North America.

Editors and associate editors

The editorial team named at the journal's third anniversary consisted of editors Jinpeng An, Yan Guo, Ruochuan Liu, Xiaobo Liu, Gang Tian and Chenyang Xu, with associate editors Noga Alon, Pierre Colmez, Hélène Esnault, Christopher Hacon, Alexandru Ionescu, Svetlana Jitomirskaya, Nader Masmoudi, Aaron Naber, Kaoru Ono, Rahul Pandharipande and Wei Zhang. Those names map closely onto the journal's ambitions: the Peking-based editors are leading figures in geometry, number theory and analysis at BICMR and the School of Mathematical Sciences, while the associate editors are internationally recognised mathematicians based at institutions around the world, giving the journal refereeing reach across the subfields it covers. Editorial boards evolve, and the current board should always be checked on Springer's journal page, but the founding structure — a strong home board in Beijing reinforced by an international associate board — remains the journal's defining editorial model.

The institutions behind the journal

Two Peking University institutions operate the journal. The School of Mathematical Sciences is one of China's principal mathematics schools, with a long record in pure and applied research and teaching. The Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research, created in 2005 by national government decree and based at Peking University, is a national mathematical research institute that hosts programmes, workshops and visiting researchers from around the world. Operating a journal through BICMR connects the title directly to the flow of visiting scholars and research programmes that pass through the centre, and the journal has lent its name to academic events, including a Peking Mathematical Journal Conference organised jointly by BICMR and the School of Mathematical Sciences in May 2024 at BICMR in Beijing. That institutional depth distinguishes PMJ from journals that are purely commercial ventures: it is embedded in the daily research life of its university.

Indexing and recognition

Peking University records that the journal was indexed by important mathematical databases including MathSciNet, the American Mathematical Society's reviewing service, and zbMATH, the European mathematical database — the two indexing services that matter most for discoverability in pure mathematics, since mathematicians search them by subject classification, author and citation. Springer's journal page lists a wider set of abstracting and indexing services, including the Chinese Science Citation Database, CNKI, Dimensions, EBSCO, Google Scholar and ProQuest services. In 2021 the journal was classified in Tier 1, the highest tier, on the Classification List of High-quality Mathematical Journals announced by the Chinese Mathematical Society. That combination — international mathematical indexing plus top-tier domestic recognition within three years of launch — is the formal record behind the journal's growing reputation.

Publishing model and access

PMJ is published through Springer under a hybrid model, and Springer reports journal-level usage figures for its platform, including download counts for recent years. Articles appear online through Springer's link platform and in the journal's volumes and issues, citable by DOI in the s42543 series. Libraries and archiving services treat it as a standard Springer-distributed title, with Portico preservation recorded for both its print and electronic ISSNs. For authors, hybrid publication means the journal can sit in subscription library collections while offering open-access publication where funders require it; for readers, it means the journal is reachable through the same SpringerLink routes used for mathematics journals worldwide.

Readership and place in Chinese mathematics publishing

The journal's readers are research mathematicians in pure fields worldwide, and its significance within China is particular. Chinese universities produce a large and rising share of the world's pure-mathematics research, yet historically the most prestigious general journals in the field have been edited in Europe and the United States. A Peking University journal that can attract Fields Medallists and National Academy members as authors, win Tier 1 domestic classification and be indexed by MathSciNet and zbMATH demonstrates that a China-based general pure-mathematics journal can operate at that level. It also gives younger Chinese mathematicians a home journal whose standards are set internationally, and gives BICMR and the School of Mathematical Sciences a publication that carries their research community's name into libraries everywhere.

Continuing development

Founded in September 2018, operated by the Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research and the School of Mathematical Sciences, published through Springer with print ISSN 2096-6075 and electronic ISSN 2524-7182, Peking Mathematical Journal has moved in a few years from launch to recognised standing in pure mathematics. Its future will be judged, as all mathematics journals are, by the theorems it publishes and the use later mathematicians make of them — but its founding record, editorial strength and institutional backing give it an unusually firm foundation for a journal of its age.