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In the decision about where to submit a physics manuscript, which are the advantages or disadvantages of the new open access PRResearch as a better choice over PRA/B/C/D/E?

PRResearch is rather new and does not have an impact factor yet. Do you expect the impact factor would be comparable to the other PRA/B/C/D/E journals, or slightly higher/lower?

Apart from the impact factor, do you see any inherent advantage to publish in a full open access journal? Notice that also the other PR* journals have open access options.

Also, the fact that the journal is multidisciplinary (as PRL and PRX) can be an advantage or disadvantage? Are there any other aspects to consider?

From the APS website https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/welcome:

The acceptance criteria for PRResearch are aligned with those of other long-established journals in the family, such as Physical Review A, B, C, D, and E.

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    Certainly, it does not seem too different from e.g. academia.stackexchange.com/questions/76420/…
    – user151413
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 14:07
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    I suppose one question to ask yourself is whether your paper fits well within one of the subcategories delineated by the A-E journals. If it does, that might be the best way to reach your audience. But if it is interdisciplinary or doesn't have an obvious home in one of them, PRR might get you seen by more relevant people.
    – Rococo
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 14:08
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    Prior to the journal opened up for submissions, I asked a few editors of other APS journals about the need for full access when e.g. PRA/PRB have open access options. Apparently there are some funding options (e.g. institutional funding for publication charges) that apply only to full open access journals, not hybrid options. So part of APS' goals with PRResearch was to provide an option for authors under such restrictions.
    – Anyon
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 14:27
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    @sintetico: I am […] asking for […] advantages/disadvantages of submitting to a specific journal. – which is pretty much the definition of a shopping question. (If this was not among the guidance you were shown, please tell me as this sounds like a bug that should be fixed.) A question that you can ask here is what the potential motivations for this new journal could be (in particular since PRA–PRE already have open-access options). If you wish to do so, please ask it as a fresh question (since the current answer doesn’t match it).
    – Wrzlprmft ♦
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 16:24
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    @Wrzlprmft This is really a splitting hair argument, "advantages/disadvantages" vs "potential motivations", is it really a matter of rephrasing the question, nothing more, do you agree with this? Also, as I and other members mentions, there are already questions which are very similar to my question and which are not closed...
    – sintetico
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 17:11

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This is impossible to say: As you note yourself, it is a new journal, and no-one knows where it will end up ranking.

On the other hand, my sentiment would be that it goes in the PR[A-E] bin, rather the PRL/X one (in line with the quote you give). Now since there are five PR[A-E] jounrals, and only one PRR, I would assume that it has good chances to rank higher than PR[A-E]. However, it could also go the other way: Given that you can publish for free in PR[A-E], while PRR is rather expensive, it could be that they only get a very limited number of submissions and cannot reach such a level. (The initial waiver for publication fees certainly suggests that they want to avoid such an effect until the journal has established itself at a corresponding level.)

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    @Anyon My point is rather that people w/out open access funding will not be able to submit to PRR, which will have some effect on the quality (or, at least, it will form a filter layer).
    – user151413
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 14:37
  • If they get a very limited number of submissions, would this automatically boost the impact factor? One can argue that researchers with more funding are also producing better papers in average, thus the expensive fee will act as a filter, by allowing few publications, with an average better impact/citations?
    – sintetico
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 15:13
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    @sintetico You can apply different types of logic here. Either less submissions -> less good submissions -> less good publications, but there are probably also some arguments supporting your reasoning. (Though, well, again: What matters is the best papers submitted there, until the cutoff where they accept it, not the average quality.)
    – user151413
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 16:34

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