In 1982,as the founding director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITP-CAS),Professor Huan-Wu Peng created a peerreviewed scientific journal—Communications in Theoretical Physics (CTP)together with some colleagues.They devoted it to the mission in promoting academic exchange of theoretical ideas in all aspects of physics between researchers in China and those from the rest of the world.Professor Peng had served as the Editor-in-Chief for seven years before this job was handed over to Prof.Tso-Hsiu Ho in 1989,who was also one of the proposers of the journal’s creation.I received the relay baton from the hand of Prof.Ho in 2013.

The Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP-CAS) has been CTP’s sponsor and owner ever since its creation.In 2000 the Chinese Physical Society (CPS) joined and became the journal’s co-sponsor.Since 2008 IOP Publishing has been distributing this journal outside of the Mainland of China.

The past 40 years has witnessed great development of the world,of China,and of science.This journal has also achieved a remarkable growth.It was published bimonthly in the first four years,with six issues per year,and had only 84 articles in its first year,all authored by Chinese researchers.It is now publishing around 200 articles annually,with 12 issues every year.The authors of the articles

published in recent three years have been from around 60 countries/regions,while these articles have been cited by researchers from more than 90 countries/regions up to now.These citing articles are distributed in about 200 scientific journals.Some of the articles published in this journal have made great and enduring impact to scientific research,and are still receiving worldwide attention from the scientific community,even if they were published many years before.The current impact factor is 2.877.

The year 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of CTP.The Editorial Board organized this special issue to celebrate this moment.It contains topical review as well as original articles,covering all the aspects of CTP’s scope.All the articles have been submitted at the invitation by Editorial Board members.

Communications in Theoretical Physics will continue its commitments to the scientific community and persist in providing professional service to its readers and authors.It is hoped that this journal will be able to reflect the leading edge of scientific research work in theoretical physics of China as well as of the whole world.