During the last three years, AAPT has published an annual 64 page supplement to AJP containing articles on Physics Education Research. Beginning with this issue, the supplement will be replaced by a section in AJP that will appear twice a year and that will contain approximately 32 pages each. The primary reason for the change is to make it easier to reference and index articles in PERS Physics Education Research Section and for libraries to bind the journal with PERS.

As has always been the case, AJP will continue to publish some articles involving physics educational research in the regular section of the journal. Two questions naturally arise. What articles are appropriate for the regular section and what are appropriate for PERS? The answer is based on the long standing policy of AJP that the regular section of AJP is not a research journal. Research articles are written to communicate to specialists in a particular field. In contrast, the goal of AJP is to have articles that are of broad interest and widely accessible. Hence, important criteria for the suitability of a manuscript for the regular section are its accessibility and interest to the non-expert. AJP does not accept papers on new research that are more appropriately accessed by reviewers of archival research journals. Thus, articles in AJP on contemporary research, including physics education research, should be work that is not tentative and clearly provides useful information for physics educators and their students.

More specific guidelines are as follows. Articles in the regular section should focus on the physics that students have difficulty understanding and on pedagogical strategies for helping students to learn. Articles in PERS should have the same ultimate concerns, but are expected to focus more on questions of not only what we think we know about student learning, but how we know and why we believe what we think we know. Articles in PERS can be expected to address a wide range of topics from theoretical frameworks for analyzing student thinking to developments of research instruments for the assessment of the effectiveness of instruction and to the development and comparison of different teaching methods. Articles should include careful discussions of research methodology and how the work was done. To keep papers to appropriate and readable size, authors should consider putting lengthy interview transcripts and data tables on EPAPS Electronic Physics Auxiliary Publication Service http://www.kzoo.edu/ajp/EPAPS.html. Note that colored charts and video interview clips can also be placed in EPAPS.

Manuscripts submitted to PERS should be sent directly to the PERS editor for consideration see http:// www.physics.umd.edu/perg/pers. [NOTE:This procedure is no longer operative. PERS manuscripts are submitted online like any other submission and are forwarded to the PERS editor. -ed] In some cases these manuscripts may be referred to the AJP editor and in some cases manuscripts sent to the AJP editor will be referred to the PERS editor. Manuscripts accepted and edited by the PERS editor will then be sent to the AJP editor for final approval and then to AIP for publication.

The number of physicists who identify themselves with physics education research is growing, and there will likely come a time when the 64 pages devoted to this topic in PERS is insufficient. AAPT is looking into the costs involved in maintaining an electronic journal on this topic. Whatever is the long range outcome, AJP will continue to do what we think should be its primary mission, namely publish papers on contemporary research in all fields of physics accessible to a broad audience of physicists and useful for education.

Jan Tobochnik, Editor

Edward F. Redish, PERS Editor