Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme explained

The Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme (PACS) is a scheme developed in 1970^[1] by the American Institute of Physics (AIP) for classifying scientific literature using a hierarchical set of codes.^[2] PACS has been used by over 160 international journals,^[1] including the Physical Review series since 1975. Since 2016, American Physical Society introduced the PhySH (Physics Subject Headings) system instead of PACS.

Discontinuation

AIP has announced that PACS 2010 will be the final version, but it will continue to be available through their website. The decision was made to discontinue PACS, owing to the administrative complexity of the revision process and its future viability in light of changing technological and research trends. However, PACS is still in use by scientific journals.^[3]

In association with Access Innovations, Inc., the AIP has developed a new "AIP Thesaurus",^[4] which it states will enable faster, more accurate and more efficient searches.

See also

• Mathematics Subject Classification (MSC)
• Computing Classification System (CCS)
• PhySH (Physics Subject Headings)

External links

• https://journals.aps.org/PACS PACS
• https://web.archive.org/web/20070826124822/http://www.aip.org/pacs/Information on PACS
• https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041118/https://publishing.aip.org/publishing/pacs/pacs-2010-regular-editionPACS 2010
• Web site: PACS 2010. 2019-02-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20190202042231/http://physics.zju.edu.cn/pw/ymdm/file/pacs/pacs.html. 2019-02-02. dead.
• Web site: PACS 2010 alpha.

Notes and References

1. Web site: PACS home page . AIP Website . AIP . 10 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081014080518/http://www.aip.org/pacs/ . 14 October 2008 . dead .
2. Web site: What is PACS?. AIP Website. AIP. 10 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131122200802/http://www.aip.org/pacs/pacs2010/about.html. 22 November 2013.
3. https://archive.today/20120710174917/http://iopscience.iop.org/0034-4885 PACS cloud
4. Web site: Access Innovations, Inc. and American Institute of Physics "Unravel" New Thesaurus for Online Scholarly Publications. Access Innovations Website. Access Innovations. 10 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20180922024345/http://www.accessinn.com/access-innovations-inc-and-american-institute-of-physics-unravel-new-thesaurus-for-online-scholarly-publications/. 22 September 2018. dead.