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==History==
PhysicsOverflow was started in April 2014 as a physics-equivalent of [[MathOverflow]] by Rahel Knöpfel, a physics PhD at the [[University of Rostock]], high-school student Abhimanyu Pallavi Sudhir, and Roger Cattin, a retired professor of computer science at the [[Fachhochschule|University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland]].<ref name="faq"/> The site was initially a mere question-and-answer forum, as it was started by users dissatisfied by the policies of the [[Stack Exchange|Physics Stack Exchange]], but it was eventually expanded to include a ''Reviews'' section in October 2014.
==Moderation practices==
PhysicsOverflow is well-known for its liberal moderation policy and hesitation to block contributors except for spam, as reflected in the website's bill of "user rights".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://physics.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6196/what-is-physics-overflow-and-how-is-it-linked-to-physics-se|title=What is Physics Overflow and how is it linked to Physics.SE?|website=Physics Meta Stack Exchange|access-date=2017-03-19|archive-date=2017-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320053801/https://physics.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6196/what-is-physics-overflow-and-how-is-it-linked-to-physics-se|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="physicsoverflow.org">{{cite web|url=https://physicsoverflow.org/user-rights|title=User Rights - PhysicsOverflow|website=physicsoverflow.org|access-date=2017-03-19|archive-date=2017-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320053816/https://physicsoverflow.org/user-rights|url-status=live}}</ref> The content is largely community-moderated, much like MathOverflow, although exceptions have been recorded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://physicsoverflow.org/31863|title=Violation of policy to close questions?|last1=drake|last2=Dilaton|last3=dimension10|date=10 June 2015|website=PhysicsOverflow|access-date=19 March 2017|archive-date=17 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017221054/http://www.physicsoverflow.org/31863|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="https://physicsoverflow.org/review">{{Cite web | url=https://physicsoverflow.org/review | title=Moderate
Although the site's moderation policy is publicly available as part of the moderator manual, the site has been criticised for the excessive dispersion of policy-related material, such as the FAQ, the Bill of Rights, the moderator list and the Community Moderation threads, leading to reduced transparency.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://physics.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6196/what-is-physics-overflow-and-how-is-it-linked-to-physics-se|title=What is Physics Overflow and how is it linked to Physics.SE?|website=Physics Meta Stack Exchange|access-date=2017-03-19|archive-date=2017-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320053801/https://physics.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6196/what-is-physics-overflow-and-how-is-it-linked-to-physics-se|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://physicsoverflow.org/22268|title=Who are the Physics Overflow moderators, and what is their exact role and powers?|last1=SaddlePoint|last2=Dilaton|first3=Ron|last3=Maimon|date=14 August 2014|website=PhysicsOverflow}}</ref> In response, the site's administrators posted a bulletin of all moderation-related content on the site on the homepage.
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==Usage==
[[Quantcast]] records around 3000 monthly visitors and between 20,000 and 50,000 global page views to PhysicsOverflow every month, over half of whom are located in four countries: the United States (26.8%), India (9.2%), the United Kingdom (8.5%), and Germany (6.4%).
==Recognition==
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* Arnold Neumaier, a professor at the University of Vienna, employs PhysicsOverflow as the platform for discussion about his Theoretical Physics FAQ.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~neum/physfaq/physics-faq.html|title=A theoretical physics FAQ|website=www.mat.univie.ac.at|access-date=2023-06-10|archive-date=2023-05-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526045935/https://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~neum/physfaq/physics-faq.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* String theorist [[Lubos Motl]] referred to the website as a "very promising competition [to Physics Stack Exchange]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://motls.blogspot.com/2014/05/physics-overflow-is-live.html|title=Physics Overflow is live|access-date=2023-06-10|archive-date=2021-10-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019075656/https://motls.blogspot.com/2014/05/physics-overflow-is-live.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Urs Schreiber]] publicised the site, claiming it could act as a catalyst to make physics academia more open like mathematics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/+UrsSchreiber/posts/SoWhSAqmUJ1?loc=us|title=New PhysicsOverflow forum for research-level physics discussion A new site...|date=2 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202090712/https://plus.google.com/+UrsSchreiber/posts/SoWhSAqmUJ1?loc=us|archive-date=2019-02-02}}</ref>
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