The journal (under its former title Optica Acta) was founded in 1953 - some years before the advent of the laser - as an international journal of optics. Since then optical research has changed greatly; fresh areas of inquiry have been explored, different techniques have been employed and the range of application has greatly increased. The journal has continued to reflect these advances as part of its steadily widening scope.

Journal of Modern Optics aims to publish original and timely contributions to optical knowledge from educational institutions, government establishments and industrial R&D groups world-wide. The whole field of classical and quantum optics is covered. Papers may deal with the applications of fundamentals of modern optics, considering both experimental and theoretical aspects of contemporary research. In addition to regular papers, there are topical and tutorial reviews, and special issues on highlighted areas.

All manuscript submissions are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees.

General topics covered include:
• Optical and photonic materials (inc. metamaterials)
• Plasmonics and nanophotonics
• Quantum optics (inc. quantum information)
• Optical instrumentation and technology (inc. detectors, metrology, sensors, lasers)
• Coherence, propagation, polarization and manipulation (classical optics)
• Scattering and holography (diffractive optics)
• Optical fibres and optical communications (inc. integrated optics, amplifiers)
• Vision science and applications
• Medical and biomedical optics
• Nonlinear and ultrafast optics (inc. harmonic generation, multiphoton spectroscopy)
• Imaging and Image processing
Topical and Tutorial Reviews
In order to best provide optical scientists with the highest quality information on current research topics, Journal of Modern Optics publishes two styles of review articles: topical reviews and tutorial reviews. Topical reviews are aimed primarily at the specialist already working on the topic covered or in a closely related area. Tutorial reviews emphasize the basics and are aimed at a structured introduction to a topic assuming little previous background knowledge.
If you are interested in writing a review article for the journal, please send a one page synopsis explaining its topicality and likely content to Professor Khare: kedark@opc.iitd.ac.in
It will be considered by the Editorial Board and then may lead to an invitation to submit a full review.

Special Issues

Please note that Journal of Modern Optics has a general policy of NOT publishing full conference proceedings. The Journal only publishes Special Issues - on occasion, these may often overlap heavily with work presented at a specific conference on the topic of the Special Issue but we do not publish conventional conference proceedings. Contributions to Journal of Modern Optics Special Issues must report original research and will be subjected to review by referees at the discretion of the Editorial Office.