JCAP 20th anniversary special issue: editorial

On the occasion of its 20th anniversary JCAP, the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, presents this special issue including a selection of original research articles authored by distinguished scientists, many of whom are part of the JCAP Editorial Board. This collection provides a snapshot of the current status of the field and represents the state of the art in our understanding of the universe on its largest scales through all its messengers. Being “a journal by scientists for scientists”, JCAP is community driven: its aims and scope evolve over time to adapt to changing research trends and is committed to serve the evolving publishing needs of its community with the same dedication and passion of the past two decades for the years to come.


Introduction
This year JCAP, the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, celebrates its 20th anniversary.
In the first celebratory collection, published earlier this year, we presented a retrospective selection of articles published since the Journal's launch.While that collection highlighted JCAP's contribution to the dramatic evolution that the field of cosmology and astroparticle physics has undergone in the past two decades, this second celebratory issue aims at looking forward.
In the years to come, JCAP's main commitment will be to continue being an effective platform for dissemination of high-quality research in cosmology and astroparticle physics.This selection of original research articles testifies this intention, providing both a snapshot of the current status of this research field and some insights into its future developments.
Moreover, we at JCAP are well aware that the scholarly publishing landscape is moving into a new era and new challenges are on the horizon, driven by powerful forces.On one side there is the open access movement and mandates which differ across countries and funders.This is putting pressure on the current business models of academic publishing.On the other side there are new technologies and, in particular, the very recent rise of artificial intelligence.
Most likely, the publishing eco-system is about to undergo profound changes towards a "new, open ecosystem involving preprint servers, journals, independent content-vetting initiatives, and curation services".The role of journals in this new eco-system will probably change.Despite the difficulties in predicting the future, JCAP's 20-year-old motto "a journal by scientists for scientists" will continue being our North Star and will guide us through this transition.

JCAP at the service of its community of researchers
Compared to on-line preprint repositories, journals' main added value is peer review.Other important services concern curation such as editing, formatting, ensuring metadata's findability, plagiarism detection and long-term preservation.Last but not least, journals take care of more formal aspects like author's rights protection, ethics investigation, etc.
Peer review begins with the authors themselves, when they anticipate what content is of interest and value to the journal's readers, when they understand the scientific rigour their JCAP11(2023)018 readers expect of JCAP, when they illustrate in a transparent way how every new result builds upon a previous body of work and "stands on the shoulders of giants" and when they strive to present their work and its innovative aspects in a clear, comprehensive, objective and professional way.JCAP standards are well known as they have been consistent and coherent for the past two decades.
Every preprint submitted to JCAP is automatically assigned to an editor based on an algorithm conceived at SISSA, where the JCAP system was developed.This algorithm ensures competent handling of the whole review process and helps avoid unnecessary delay.
Editors are the greatest asset of JCAP, they are distinguished active scientists who establish the Journal's scientific policy and participate in all major scientific decisions in cooperation with the Director.JCAP large Editorial Board provides competent coverage for the Journal topics and takes care of selecting the most knowledgeable referees while remaining fully responsible for the peer review process: authors receive an "editor report".
Across many journals and publishers, traditional refereeing is under strain because of the high volume of submissions and for the generalized lack of appreciation for the reviewer's work and role.In the spirit that scientists should be compensated for their work, JCAP pays a token fee to referees.Since monetary compensation cannot fully reflect the value of peer-review work, additional forms of rewards and recognition are being explored.We also hope referees may find it enriching reading articles, which the editor's initial screening and careful reviewer selection help ensure promising, and falling within their area of expertise.Referees are provided clear guidance on expectations when performing their role and, via JCAP's publishing partner IOP (see below), they can access training and certification programmes designed to help early career researchers or less experienced academics improve their skills in the peer review process.
The guiding principle is to minimize the intervention of non-scientists on scientific aspects, leaving these to the Editors and the Director.The dedicated and experienced Editorial and Production Office support scientists in their role with exceptional commitment, world class professionality and unrivaled work ethics.Authors and Editors recognize and appreciate the staff's "personal touch", their prompt response and efficiency.

Publishing partnership, ethics and open access
JCAP is jointly published by SISSA and the Institute of Physics (IOP).SISSA is where the Editorial and Production Offices are based and is in charge of the editorial and review process, of all the parts that relate to the scientific content and of the scientific strategy.IOP takes care of publishing and distributing the Journal.It is a scientific society with the mission of promoting physics and physicists globally.Being a society, non-for-profit publisher, the net income from its publishing activities are reinvested to pursue their mission.
SISSA and IOP work in partnership and are fully aligned with respect to values such as scientific rigour, research integrity, the role of peer review, diversity and inclusion, open access and publishing ethics.The latter is taken particularly seriously and the Journal is compliant with the principles outlined in the COPE Core Practices.Conscious that a wise approach to new technologies is an opportunity that can be compatible with rigorous ethical standard, JCAP's prompt reaction to the sudden availability of generative AI tools like large language models, for example, has been to proactively provide clear usage guidelines to Authors and