Physical Review Materials is a new broad-scope international journal for the multidisciplinary community engaged in research on materials. It is intended to fill a gap in the family of existing Physical Review journals that publish materials research. This field has grown rapidly in recent years and is increasingly being carried out in a way that transcends conventional subject boundaries. The journal was created to provide a common publication and reference source to the expanding community of physicists, materials scientists, chemists, engineers, and researchers in related disciplines that carry out high-quality original research in materials. It will share the same commitment to the high quality expected of all APS publications.