PRB currently publishes over 4500 papers a year, making it one of the largest physics journals in the world.

[2][3] The focus of this journal is on new results in condensed matter physics, which includes a wide variety of subject areas, such as semiconductors, superconductivity, magnetism, structure, phase transitions, ferroelectrics, nonordered systems, liquids, quantum solids, superfluidity, electronic structure, photonic crystals, mesoscopic systems, surfaces, clusters, fullerenes, graphene, nanoscience, etc.

PRB has a reputation among professional physicists for publishing useful, comprehensive long papers in physics.

[1][3] It also contains short (four page) papers in its Letters section, previously named Rapid Communications,[6] designed for research important enough to deserve special handling and speedy publication.

[7] Titles and abstracts can be freely viewed but a journal subscription is needed to read the full text of papers.