Created in 1835 by the physicist François Arago, then Permanent Secretary, the journal Comptes Rendus of the Académie des sciences allows researchers to make their work known to the international scientific community.
It is divided into seven series covering the whole range of research fields in exact and applied sciences: Mathématique, Mécanique, Chimie, Biologies, Géoscience - Sciences de la planète, Physique and Palevol (evolution and paleontology). Each title is led by one or more editor(s)-in-chief, assisted by editorial boards. The articles submitted are reviewed by scientists with recognized competence in the field concerned.
Initially created to briefly announce significant new results, the Comptes Rendus have evolved considerably and now publish research articles, review articles, historical or biographical articles, as well as thematic issues directed by guest editors, French or foreign.
For more information on the editorial line of each series and on its submission procedure, consult the series' website.
The Académie des sciences and the CNRS join forces to support Diamond Open Access
On December 3, 2025, the Académie des sciences and the CNRS signed an agreement to co-publish the Académie's scientific journals, Comptes Rendus, in order to support a virtuous Diamond Open Access scientific publishing model. In a context where the dissemination of knowledge is undermined by an unbalanced economic model, this initiative aims to offer an ethical and equitable alternative to the growing dependence of the international scientific research community on commercial publishers. It is part of the international open science movement, which encourages the unhindered dissemination of scientific research results, methods, and products.
Since January 1, 2020, Académie des sciences' Comptes Rendus have been published in Diamond Open Access, free of charge for authors (no article processing charges to pay) and readers (articles freely available without subscription and reusable under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license). This economic model is made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Académie, joined in 2026 by the CNRS, with the centre Mersenne, a public publishing infrastructure developed by the Mathdoc research support unit (CNRS - Université Grenoble Alpes), which produces the Mathématique, Physique, Mécanique, Chimie, Géoscience and Biologies series.
The Académie des sciences also collaborates with the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, co-publisher of the Palevol series since 2020.
Learn more about the joint publication by the Academy and the CNRS
Learn more about the Académie des sciences' commitment to open science.
Since summer 2023, issues published between 2002 and 2019 in collaboration with Elsevier have also been made available in open access, directly on the sites of each series. The articles in these issues can be reused under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. The Académie des Sciences would like to express its sincere thanks to the Elsevier France team, and in particular to its Chairman Daniel Rodriguez, who made this republication possible.
For more information on the previous publishers of Comptes Rendus and their online publishing policy, please consult our dedicated page.
Comptes Rendus - Physique
Comptes Rendus - Géoscience
Comptes Rendus - Palevol
Comptes Rendus - Chimie
Comptes Rendus - Biologies
Vie des sciences
Contacts
Director of publication for the Mathématique, Mécanique, Physique, Géoscience and Palevol series: Étienne Ghys, Permanent Secretary of the First Division of the Academy of Sciences
Director of publication for the series Chimie and Biologies : Antoine Triller, Permanent Secretary of the Second Division of the Academy of Sciences
Editors of each series: See the page "Organization" of each series of the Comptes rendus
Director of the publications service of the Academy of Sciences: Justine Fabre
Assistant to the Director of the Publications Service: Virginie Decosta
Scientific secretary or editorial secretary of each series: See the "About" page of each series of the Comptes rendus