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THE OPTICAL SOCIETY

The Optical Society commemorates the rich tradition and history of Optics Letters


WASHINGTON - First launched in 1977 as as means to quickly disseminate the latest in optics research and provide the optics and photonics community with a true Letters-style publication, Optics Letters has, over the course of its long history, published influential papers in nonlinear optics, ultrafast spectroscopy, fiber optics, optical communication, and biomedical optics among other areas. This year the Journal celebrates its 40th anniversary and The Optical Society (OSA) has launched a special website to highlight this milestone. The site contains editorials from past Editors-in-Chief, a list of the top 100 most-cited Optics Letters articles, a special selection of Editors' Picks articles and other historic material showcasing the rich history of the Journal.

"For 40 years, Optics Letters has been a trusted source within the community that consistently publishes cutting-edge results in the 'science of light,' in a timely manner" said Optics LettersEditor-in-Chief Xi-Cheng Zhang, The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, New York. "It is an honor and a privilege to be leading Optics Letters as we celebrate this important milestone."

Alan Willner, Steven and Kathryn Sample Chair in Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering-Systems at the University of Southern California, California, 2016 President of The Optical Society and former Editor-in-Chief of Optics Letters, reflected "Serving as the Editor-in-Chief for Optics Letters provided me with a deep appreciation for the ongoing dedication of the volunteer editors, reviewers and the OSA publishing staff who work to consistently maintain the high quality that has become synonymous with the Journal. I know our community will continue to benefit from the high-quality scholarship and research in Optics Letters for many years to come."

Over the past 40 years, the Journal has published nearly 30,000 papers with feedback from over 120,000 reviews. The innovative research published in the Journal was cited more than 55,000 times in 2015 alone and has helped Optics Letters maintain an Impact Factor above 3.0 for the past 15 years. Keeping true to its original promise of providing researchers a place to publish peer-reviewed results quickly, the median time from submission to publication is less than 70 days. For more on the Journal's anniversary, read Dr. Zhang's latest commemorative editorial and review newly-posted Editors' Pick collections on Lasers and Optical Fiber on the anniversary website.

About Optics Letters

Optics Letters offers rapid dissemination of new results in all areas of optics with short, original, peer-reviewed communications. Published twice each month by The Optical Society, Optics Letters provides readers with discoveries that are newsworthy to a substantial part of the optics community and will influence the research of others in optics.

About The Optical Society

Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org.

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