Shock Waves provides a forum for presenting and discussing new results in all fields where shock and detonation phenomena play a role. The journal addresses physicists, engineers and applied mathematicians working on theoretical, experimental or numerical issues, including diagnostics and flow visualization.

The research fields considered include, but are not limited to, aero- and gas dynamics, acoustics, physical chemistry, condensed matter and plasmas, with applications encompassing materials sciences, space sciences, geosciences, life sciences and medicine.

Of particular interest are contributions which provide insights into fundamental aspects of the techniques that are relevant to more than one specific research community.

The journal publishes scholarly research papers, invited review articles and short notes, as well as comments on papers already published in this journal. Occasionally concise meeting reports of interest to the Shock Waves community are published.