Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences

Naming history

The journal has had several name changes and splits over the years.

1835–1965

Comptes rendus was initially established in 1835 as Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences. It began as an alternative publication pathway for more prompt publication than the Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences, which had been published since 1666. The Mémoires, which continued to be published alongside the Comptes rendus throughout the nineteenth century, had a publication cycle which resulted in memoirs being published years after they had been presented to the Academy. Some academicians continued to publish in the Mémoires because of the strict page limits in the Comptes rendus.

1966–1980

After 1965 this title was split into five sections:

• Série A (Sciences mathématiques) – mathematics
• Série B (Sciences physiques) – physics and geosciences
• Série C (Sciences chimiques) – chemistry
• Série D (Sciences naturelles) – life sciences
• Vie académique – academy notices and miscellanea (between 1968 and 1970, and again between 1979 and 1983)

Series A and B were published together in one volume except in 1974.

1981–1993

The areas were rearranged as follows:

• Série I - (Sciences Mathématiques) - mathematics
• Série II (Mécanique-physique, Chimie, Sciences de l'univers, Sciences de la Terre) - physics, chemistry, astronomy and geosciences
• Série III - (Sciences de la vie) - life sciences
• Vie académique – academy notices and miscellanea (the last 3 volumes of the second edition, between 1981 and 1983)
• Vie des sciences – A renamed Vie académique (from 1984 to 1996)

1994–2001

These publications remained the same:

• Série I (Sciences mathématiques) – mathematics
• Série III (Sciences de la Vie) – life sciences
• Vie des sciences – A renamed Vie académique (until 1996)

The areas published in Série II were slowly split into other publications in ways that caused some confusion.

In 1994, Série II, which covered physics, chemistry, astronomy and geosciences, was replaced by Série IIA and Série IIB. Série IIA was exclusive to geosciences, and Série IIB covered chemistry and astronomy and the now-distinct mechanics and physics.

In 1998, Série IIB covered mechanics, physics and astronomy; chemistry got its separate publication, Série IIC.

In 2000, Série IIB became dedicated exclusively to mechanics in May. Astronomy got redefined as astrophysics, which along with physics was covered by the new Série IV. Série IV began publishing in March; however, Séries IIB published two more issues on physics and astrophysics in April and May before starting the new run.

2002 onwards

The present naming and subject assignment was established in 2002:

• Comptes Rendus Biologies – life sciences except paleontology and evolutionary biology. Continues in part Série IIC (biochemistry) and III.
• Comptes Rendus Chimie – chemistry. Continues in part Série IIC.
• Comptes Rendus Géoscience – geosciences. Continues in part Série IIA.
• Comptes Rendus Mathématique – mathematics. Continues Série I.
• Comptes Rendus Mécanique – mechanics. Continues Série IIB.
• Comptes Rendus Palévol – paleontology and evolutionary biology. Continues in part Série IIA and III.
• Comptes Rendus Physique – topical issues in physics (mainly optics, astrophysics and particle physics). Continues Série IV.