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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

academic journal of the National Academy of Sciences

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ1146531 ↗
Source-derived summary

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (often abbreviated PNAS or PNAS USA) is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences, published since 1915, and publishes original research, scientific reviews, commentaries, and letters. According to Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2024 impact factor of 8.9. PNAS is the second most cited scientific journal, with more than 1.9 million cumulative citations from 2008 to 2018. In the past, PNAS has been described by US local newspapers as "prestigious", "renowned" and "high impact".

PNAS is a delayed open-access journal, with an embargo period of six months that can be bypassed for an author fee (hybrid open access). Since September 2017, open access articles are published under a Creative Commons license. Since January 2019, PNAS has been online-only, although print issues are available on demand.

History

PNAS was established by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1914, with its first issue published in 1915. The NAS itself was founded in 1863 as a private institution, but chartered by the United States Congress, with the goal to "investigate, examine, experiment and report upon any subject of science or art".

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America” is academic journal of the National Academy of Sciences. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Proceedings, National and Academy, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1915, 2024, 2008, 2018—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1915. For this dossier, Proceedings, National and Academy is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “academic journal of the National Academy of Sciences” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1146531. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1915, 2024, 2008 and 2018.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America primary sources, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America archive and Proceedings research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.