Optics and Photonics Topics
Optica Publishing Group uses the Optics and Photonics Topics to improve search, organize content by topic, and identify similar articles.
Click or tap the circle to expand the topic nodes. Zoom and pan on the topic tree as it expands. Click a topic name to initiate as search across our journals and proceedings. Read More.
Feedback welcome at OSAP_topics@optica.org
Optics and Photonics Topics
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. The thesaurus uses current best practices (such as the SKOS standard) to ensure ease of use and interoperability with indexing software.
How many Optics and Photonics Topics are there, and how are they organized?
Our first version of the Optics and Photonics Topics contains 2,412 terms with more than 5,000 synonyms and variants. Terms are organized into an eight-level hierarchy, and the top level is based on the current Optica Technical Divisions. Our aim is not to collect as many terms as possible but rather to identify and refine an optimal number of terms best suited for classification and indexing.
How are the Optics and Photonics Topics applied to articles?
To ensure that we can apply a uniform and flexible indexing approach across our 100-year database of articles, we employ classification software provided by Expert System. 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. Because we converted our entire journal backfile to XML markup, the software is able to use the rich structural information in the converted articles to apply its algorithms. "Training" the software to use our thesaurus effectively will be an ongoing effort, and content will be reindexed as the thesaurus and the software tools evolve.
Can I add my own freeform keywords for indexing?
We are exploring the use of author-provided Freeform keywords may ultimately appear with the online article and provide a regular source for candidate terms to consider for the thesaurus.
Will the Optics and Photonics Topics replace 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 now in active use to initiate or refine a search within the Optica Publishing Group platform.