Persistence

Persistence publishes research across the material sciences — natural, formal, computational, and quantitative. The journal solicits work in (but not limited to) complexity science, information theory, nonlinear dynamics, statistical physics, dynamical systems, computing and artificial intelligence, mathematical biology, theoretical neuroscience, and quantitative social science. Submissions are evaluated strictly on mathematics, methodology, and evidence. Humanities and qualitative-only submissions fall outside scope.

Volume 1 (2026)

The articles of Volume 1, in the order they joined it. Each one links to its full curation record. The volume's print edition is scheduled for May 2027.

1. The Existence Threshold Nathan M. Thornhill · accepted April 19, 2026 · doi:10.5281/zenodo.18182662
2. Pattern Loss at Dimensional Boundaries: The 86% Scaling Law Nathan M. Thornhill · accepted April 19, 2026 · doi:10.5281/zenodo.18262424
3. The Dimensional Loss Theorem: Proof and Neural Network Validation Nathan M. Thornhill · accepted April 19, 2026 · doi:10.5281/zenodo.18319430
4. The Dynamic Existence Threshold: Organizational Consciousness Across Complex Systems Nathan M. Thornhill · accepted April 19, 2026 · doi:10.5281/zenodo.18373411
5. Architecture-Independent Geometric Memory Failure: Two Parallel Lines of Evidence Nathan M. Thornhill · accepted May 15, 2026 · doi:10.5281/zenodo.20211868
6. When Reduction Becomes Lossy: An Intervention-Relative Test of Explanatory Boundaries Guillaume Vimeney · accepted September 29, 2026 · doi:10.67697/icsac.2026.001

What's different

Persistence unbundles what a traditional academic journal bundles together. Curation rigor stays; the rest of the apparatus does not.

The Institute's curation team reviews every panel recommendation before any publication decision; if the team and the panel disagree, both positions are on record. Every accepted paper publishes with its complete curation record — panel reviews, Review Quality Control audit, and the curation decision — at a permanent URL. Full review process →  ·  Panel performance →

Publication Model

• Open curation record — every accepted paper publishes with its full panel reviews, RQC audit, and curation decision at a permanent URL on this site, free to read
• Authors retain copyright on their own work — Persistence claims no rights to the manuscript itself; authors may post, license, or republish their PDF however they choose
• Online first, print by selection — every accepted paper is an article of Persistence from the day its DOI registers; the volume's annual trade paperback and ebook gathers the year's articles it can carry (how it works is set out below). The print/ebook is the journal's product; the curation record stays free online
• No article-processing charges
• No submission fees

How Persistence works

• Every accepted paper is eligible. The annual gathers the year's accepted papers into a trade paperback and ebook, sold through Amazon and the other major retailers, through the wholesale channel that libraries and universities order from, and here. The Institute makes every attempt to include all of a year's accepted papers. In a year with more acceptances than one volume can carry, a paper may appear in the following year's edition, a supplement, or a special edition instead.
• Your say. Inclusion follows the preference you give on your response page after acceptance. You can keep a paper online-only.
• How you hear. 60 to 120 days before an edition's scheduled publication date, the authors of the papers it will carry receive an intent-to-publish notice by email with a short form: a professional headshot, a short biography, and the details the edition prints. Please complete it in full. Where you have agreed to inclusion and the form comes back incomplete, we fill what is missing from the public information on your ORCID record; a paper we cannot present properly may move to a later edition.
• No status enquiries. The Institute does not answer questions about whether a paper will be included and sends no interim updates. If your paper is selected, you hear from us inside that window. Add info@icsacinstitute.org and help@icsacinstitute.org to your contacts so the notice does not land in spam.
• No fees, no free copies. Authors pay nothing to be reviewed, published, printed, and distributed worldwide, and print costs keep rising. The Institute therefore provides no free, reduced-price, draft, or not-for-resale author copies of any edition. Copies are sold at your preferred retailer or here. Credential holders will receive a member discount on print and ebook copies from the first edition: see membership.

Next edition: Volume 1, Number 1, May 2027.