arXiv
arXiv is a free, open-access repository where physicists post papers before (and sometimes instead of) formal journal publication. These are called preprints. Almost all HEP papers appear on arXiv first, often months before the journal version.
Finding a paper
Search at arxiv.org by title, author, or keyword. You can also browse the daily listing of new submissions. The most relevant categories for this journal club are:
hep-ph— High Energy Physics – Phenomenologyhep-ex— High Energy Physics – Experimenthep-th— High Energy Physics – Theorynucl-th/nucl-ex— Nuclear Theory / Experimentastro-ph.HE— High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
The arXiv ID
Every paper has a unique ID like 2301.12345. The first four digits encode the
submission date — 2301 = January 2023. A URL like
https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.12345 takes you directly to the abstract page.
When submitting a paper to this journal club you can paste either form — the bare ID
2301.12345 or the full URL — the site normalises both automatically.
Reading the abstract page
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Submitted | Date the authors posted it |
| Authors | Click a name to see all their arXiv papers |
| Subjects | Primary and cross-listed categories |
| Abstract | Short summary written by the authors |
| [pdf] | Direct link to the paper PDF |
| [v2], [v3]… | Revised versions; the site always links to the latest |
INSPIRE-HEP
INSPIRE-HEP is the community database for high energy physics literature. Unlike arXiv (which just hosts preprints), INSPIRE links papers to their citations, experiments, authors, and institutions, and indexes both preprints and published journal articles.
What this site shows from INSPIRE
| Field | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Title | INSPIRE record (same as arXiv) |
| Authors | INSPIRE — often more complete than arXiv |
| Abstract | INSPIRE record |
| Citation count | How many other papers cite this one |
| iNSPIRE-HEP button | Direct link to the full INSPIRE record |
The INSPIRE record page
The INSPIRE record for a paper contains much more than this site shows:
- Full author list with affiliations and ORCID links
- BibTeX / LaTeX citation key — useful for citing in your own work
- List of papers this paper cites, and papers that cite it
- Links to the DOI (journal version) and arXiv page
- Experiment and collaboration tags
To get a BibTeX entry for any paper: open its INSPIRE record → click Cite → copy the BibTeX.
Citation counts as a rough guide
For a new paper (< 1 year old), citation counts are low by default — this does not mean the paper is unimportant. For older papers, a rough HEP scale:
| Citations | Rough impression |
|---|---|
| < 10 | Recent or niche |
| 10 – 100 | Solid, community-relevant |
| 100 – 500 | Influential |
| 500+ | Landmark paper |
INSPIRE typically indexes new arXiv papers within 1–3 days of posting. If the site shows the warning "Not yet indexed on iNSPIRE-HEP", the paper was submitted very recently — the arXiv link still works and you can read it immediately. The INSPIRE record will appear within a few days.