--- name: journal-of-power-sources description: Use when targeting Journal of Power Sources or deciding whether an electrochemical-power-device manuscript fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, the device-and-electrochemistry contribution bar, cell-level performance and diagnostics rigor, house style, the device-vs-materials routing, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics. --- # Journal of Power Sources (journal-of-power-sources) ## Journal positioning Journal of Power Sources (Elsevier) is an archival venue for the **science and technology of electrochemical power devices**: batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors at the cell/electrode/electrolyte level — their engineering, performance, degradation, and diagnostics. Its center of gravity is the **device and its electrochemistry**: how an electrode, electrolyte, interface, or cell architecture governs measured device behavior (capacity, rate, efficiency, cycle life, failure). A paper that reports only a new active material's properties, with electrochemistry as an afterthought, fits the materials family better; this journal rewards an advance you can read in the cell's performance and diagnostics. This skill is a **fit / venue-selection / re-framing** tool. It does not replace the journal's current official author guidelines. Before submitting, re-check the live Journal of Power Sources Guide for Authors on the Elsevier site. ## When to trigger - The author names Journal of Power Sources for a battery, fuel-cell, or supercapacitor manuscript centered on cell/electrode/electrolyte engineering or diagnostics. - A paper must be re-framed from "we made a material" into a device-and-electrochemistry story tied to measured cell performance and degradation. - The author is deciding between this device venue and the materials-mechanism venue `energy-storage-materials`, or the systems venue `applied-energy`. - The author needs the journal's cell-level performance and diagnostics rigor bar and desk-reject heuristics. ## Scope & topic fit - Batteries: electrode and electrolyte engineering, cell design, performance, and the electrochemistry governing rate, capacity, and efficiency at the device level. - Degradation, aging, safety, and failure analysis: cycle-life, calendar aging, thermal behavior, and post-mortem/operando diagnostics of cells. - Fuel cells and electrolyzers: catalyst layers, membranes/electrolytes, and cell/stack performance, durability, and water/thermal management. - Supercapacitors and hybrid devices: electrode and electrolyte engineering with device-level rate and energy/power characterization. - Diagnostics and characterization methods (EIS, operando, modeling of cells) that illuminate device behavior, performance, or degradation mechanisms. - Cell-level modeling and battery-management-relevant analysis tied to measured devices. ## Method & evidence bar - The central claim is a **device/electrochemistry advance**: the contribution must be legible in cell-level metrics under clearly stated, realistic protocols, not only in material characterization. - Electrochemical testing must report mass/areal loading, current density (C-rate or mA cm⁻²), voltage window, electrolyte, and cell configuration; half-cell vs. full-cell context must be honest. - Performance must be benchmarked against credible device-level state-of-the-art under comparable conditions; capacity/rate claims at trivial loadings are weak. - Degradation/diagnostics claims require sufficient cycling/aging duration and a mechanism supported by operando or post-mortem evidence, not a single fade curve. - Reproducibility: report cell-build details, number of cells, and statistics; safety- relevant claims need appropriate characterization. ## Structure & house style - Standard research-article structure (introduction, experimental, results, discussion); the journal uses highlights and a graphical abstract — re-check current article types and requirements on the live guide. - The introduction frames the device/electrochemistry gap and the performance or degradation problem; the discussion ties electrode/electrolyte/interface variables to measured cell behavior. - Figures are load-bearing: rate and cycling data at stated loadings, voltage profiles, EIS/operando diagnostics, and post-mortem analysis with controls. - Supporting information carries full cell-build and testing protocols and extended electrochemical data; main-text figures must support the device claim on their own. ## Official-submission checklist - Before giving submission-ready advice, read `../../resources/source-basis.md` and `../../resources/official-source-map.md`; start from the Elsevier anchors, then cite the current Journal of Power Sources Guide for Authors page you checked. - Search the live site for "Journal of Power Sources guide for authors" and follow the current Elsevier/Editorial Manager version. - Re-check article types, highlights and graphical-abstract requirements, and electrochemical-reporting conventions (loadings, current densities, cell type). - Confirm data-availability and any expectation to report full cell-build and cycling protocols for reproducibility. - Re-check competing-interests, funding, author-contribution (CRediT), and AI-use disclosure requirements. - If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions win. ## Pre-submission self-check - [ ] The advance is legible in cell-level performance/degradation, not only in material characterization. - [ ] Loading, current density, voltage window, electrolyte, and cell configuration are reported; half- vs full-cell context is honest. - [ ] Performance is benchmarked against device-level state-of-the-art under comparable conditions, at realistic loadings. - [ ] Degradation/diagnostics claims have sufficient duration and operando/post-mortem mechanism evidence. - [ ] Cell-build details, number of cells, and statistics are reported for reproducibility. - [ ] Highlights and graphical abstract represent the device/electrochemistry advance. ## Common desk-reject triggers - Material-only study with token electrochemistry and no device-level contribution. - Capacity/rate claims at trivial mass/areal loadings or with undisclosed test conditions. - Half-cell results presented as if they were full-cell device performance. - Single fade curve offered as degradation analysis with no mechanism or operando/post-mortem evidence. - Performance benchmarked against a strawman or under non-comparable protocols. - Pure materials-synthesis or pure mechanism paper better suited to a materials venue. ## Re-routing decision - Electrode/electrolyte materials and structure–property mechanism as the core → `energy-storage-materials`. - Systems-level energy integration / techno-economic scope → `applied-energy`. - Membrane/electrolyte transport mechanism as the central science → `journal-of-membrane-science`. - Applied electrocatalysis as a process/material advance → `chemical-engineering-journal`. - Highest-profile energy-device breakthrough → `nature-energy` or `joule` (different selectivity/format; re-check). ## Output format ```text [Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason) [Target] Journal of Power Sources [Topic tags] <2–3 closest device subtopics (battery/fuel-cell/supercapacitor)> [Device advance] [Test conditions] [Diagnostics/degradation] [Top risk] [Official items to re-check]
[Re-route suggestion] ```