Aims and scope
The Proceedings is a broad scope peer reviewed journal publishing original research articles, reviews, commentaries/opinion, meeting reports, book reviews and Academy news. The scope of journal encompasses physics, chemical sciences, earth & planetary sciences, engineering & technology, material sciences & engineering, plant sciences, animal sciences, microbiology & immunology, cell & bio-molecular sciences and health sciences and agricultural sciences.
Original research papers in the areas of pure and applied mathematics are not considered. However, articles in areas of pure and applied mathematics, which are of interest to a broad readership, and those based on Indian National Science Academy (INSA) award lectures and reviews/surveys contributed by newly elected INSA fellows and YS awardees can be considered for publication in the journal.
All articles, including those invited, are peer-reviewed. In addition to the regular issues, Special Issues or Sections on thematic topics are also published periodically.
The journal has an illustrious history-it started when the then National Institute of Sciences of India, now the Indian National Science Academy, was inaugurated on 7 January 1935 at Calcutta and commissioned this journal, Proceedings of the National Institute of Sciences of India, in the same year, for publishing articles from all the branches of science. As the number of accepted papers increased, the journal was bifurcated in 1955 into two parts - Part A (Physical Sciences) and Part B (Biological Sciences). When the National Institute of Sciences of India was renamed as the Indian National Science Academy in 1970, the journal became Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy. It continued to be published in two parts with six issues each in a calendar year. In 1997, the Academy decided to publish only review articles of contemporary scientific interest, evaluating advances and newer approaches in the given field. The emphasis thus shifted from being a vehicle of original research reports into one of reviews, and comprehensive summary reports on chosen topics. Thus from the beginning of January 1998, the Proceedings brought out thematic issues containing invited reviews on current scientific topics. Beginning from the year 2006, the Academy merged the Parts A and B so that each issue of the Proceedings is inter-disciplinary and covers areas under Physical, Biological and Applied Sciences, including Engineering and today the journal publishes original articles along with reviews.