Optics and Photonics Topics

Optica Publishing Group uses the Optics and Photonics Topics to improve search, organize content by topic, and identify similar articles.

FAQs

How and why were the Optics and Photonics Topics created?

Optica Publishing Group developed the Optics and Photonics Topics to help organize its diverse content more accurately by topic area. The thesaurus of topics was created with an outside consultant, Access Innovations, in coordination with staff and volunteer subject-matter experts, and the thesaurus will grow and change in response to input from the community with a focus on capturing and applying new terms in important, emerging areas.

How are the Optics and Photonics Topics applied to articles?

By using classification software, the Optics and Photonics Topics are assigned to articles with relevance weightings, and we will generally use the six highest-scoring terms for indexing in the Optica Publishing Group search engine.

Can I suggest new Optics and Photonics Topics?

If you think a topic should be added to the thesaurus, contact us at OSAP_topics@optica.org. Please keep the following suggestions in mind:

Scope and Relevance: Ensure new terms are relevant to the Optics and Photonics Topics. Evaluate the significance and applicability of the term within the domain to avoid adding unnecessary or unrelated terms. Also, consider if the new term would be better suited as a synonym or alias of an existing term. Adding more synonyms to an existing term is better than creating a new term.

Standardization: Use standardized terminology and adhere to established conventions in the field. This helps maintain consistency and ensures the thesaurus aligns with existing terminology.

Alternate labels: Provide commonly used synonyms or variants of a term, including acronyms. This improves the overall indexing and search functionality.

Conceptual Relationships: Understand the hierarchical and associative relationships between the new term and existing terms in the thesaurus. Identify the broader terms (hypernyms), narrower terms (hyponyms), related terms, and synonyms. This helps maintain a coherent and interconnected structure within the thesaurus.

What happened to the OCIS codes?

The Optica Publishing Group search engine now uses the Topics instead of OCIS codes. However, each of the OCIS codes has been retained in the Thesaurus as a preferred term or as an alternate.

How can I use the Optics and Photonics Topics now?

The Optics and Photonics Topics are actively used to initiate or refine a search within the Optica Publishing Group platform.