AAS Ethics Policy
The journals of the American Astronomical Society subscribe to basic standards of professional ethics and conduct that are common across all areas of scholarly publishing. Authors submitting manuscripts to these journals are expected to be familiar with, and to follow, the guidelines set out in the policy.
What We Look for in Your Manuscript
Papers published in the journals of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) present the results of significant original research that have not been published previously. Manuscripts submitted to the journals should meet this criterion and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
These guidelines cover both The Astronomical Journal (AJ) and The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) (the main journal (Part 1), Letters (Part 2), and the Supplement Series). Authors are advised to examine carefully current issues of the appropriate journal to familiarize themselves with the journal's conventions and to note any changes in style before preparing a new manuscript for submission. In general, AAS style conforms to Merriam–Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) and The Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.).
The Astronomical Journal
The Astronomical Journal was founded in 1849 by Benjamin A. Gould and was acquired by the AAS in 1941. As a premier journal for original astronomical research, the AJ serves an international community that includes authors, scientists, and students who rely on the AJ’s efficient and accessible communication of the science of astronomy and its associated techniques. The AJ takes a broad view of astronomy that extends from the solar system to observational cosmology, with an emphasis on significant scientific results derived from observations. Building on its strong tradition of papers discussing dynamical processes, the AJ welcomes descriptions of data capture, surveys, data analysis techniques, and astrophysical interpretation, and to this end makes use of modern technologies to present information.
Topical Papers and Special Issues
The Astronomical Journal supports the complete presentation of astronomical observations, analysis techniques, and modeling efforts in the refereed literature. To this end, we are pleased to consider papers that describe instruments, techniques, or software that has been or can reasonably be expected to be associated with scientific research published in the AJ. Examining AJ papers from the past few years can serve as a useful guide. Because the AJ is not currently equipped to review treatments of instrumentation or techniques as research topics in their own right, we ask authors of technical papers to explain the connection to the science and discuss their plans informally with the Editors in advance of submission.
In addition, the AJ is pleased to consider special sets of papers such as those derived from a single program or large survey. A larger number of papers can be published as a separate issue or for fewer (e.g., 4–8) papers as a subsection of a regular issue. Please contact the Editors if you are interested in exploring this option.
The Astrophysical Journal
The Astrophysical Journal began publication in 1895 under the initiation of George E. Hale and James E. Keeler. The ApJ is the foremost research journal in the world devoted to recent developments, discoveries, and theories in astronomy and astrophysics. Many of the most important astronomical and astrophysical discoveries of the twentieth century were first reported in the ApJ, which has also presented much of the important recent work on quasars, pulsars, neutron stars, black holes, solar and stellar magnetic fields, X-rays, and interstellar matter. The winners of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics published their prize-winning work in the ApJ. For more information on the history of the ApJ see D. Osterbrock (1995, ApJ, 438, 1).
The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Part 2)
The Letters section was created as Part 2 of The Astrophysical Journal in 1967 by S. Chandrasekhar. He cited the need for a separate publishing schedule that allowed astrophysicists to rapidly publish short notices of their "spectacular developments in astronomy," (S. Chandrasekhar, 1967, ApJ, 148, 1). In 1971, Letters obtained its first editor separate from Part 1.
The Letters is a peer-reviewed express scientific journal. Manuscripts must meet the same criteria for all papers published in The Astrophysical Journal with the additional criteria of timeliness and brevity.
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Very long papers (>> 20 pages), papers containing extensive amounts of data or calculations with relatively little analysis or interpretations, or papers of very specialized interest intended for The Astrophysical Journal (Part 1) should be submitted to the Supplement Series. This was created specifically for these types of papers because of the high demand for the limited amount of space in Part 1. Note that a Scientific Editor or referee may also recommend that a paper be published in the Supplement Series. Surveys have shown that papers appearing in the Supplement Series are referenced in the astronomical literature twice as frequently on average as papers in Part 1.
Specialized Interest Papers
The Astrophysical Journal has a long history of publishing papers on data and instruments that support astronomical observations and theory. Examples of these include papers presenting fundamental data on atomic, molecular, and nuclear astrophysics (theoretical calculations and laboratory experiments), papers on astronomical instrumentation and facilities, papers presenting novel approaches to data analysis and statistical treatment of astronomical data, or papers on relativity, hydrodynamics, plasma theory, particle theory, etc., as applied in astrophysical contexts.
The criteria for publishing these papers are similar to those applied generally: the results presented must constitute significant new and research that is directly relevant to astrophysical applications. This relevance is best demonstrated if the papers contain examples of astrophysical applications (or in the case of new instruments, example observations). If this is not practical, the relevance of the work to astrophysical problems must be clearly explained and justified. Papers that consist solely of experimental or theoretical results in physics, chemistry, fluid mechanics, relativity, etc., should be submitted to journals that specialize in those subjects.
How to Prepare Your Manuscript
General
Authors are strongly encouraged to prepare their manuscripts using the most recent version of the AASTeX macro package, and to submit them electronically. The AJ also accepts papers submitted using Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) while the ApJ (Part 1, Part 2, and the Supplement Series) will accept Microsoft Word.
Detailed guidelines on the preparation of papers using AASTeX and Word are available.
The preferred format for graphics is vector Encapsulated PostScript (EPS); further information on figures and detailed guidelines are available.
Style
Papers must be written in English. Authors who are unfamiliar with English should obtain help from colleagues proficient in that language. While a polished literary style is not demanded of scientific papers, they should conform to the elementary rules of grammar, syntax, punctuation, and clarity. Slang and jargon should be avoided.
Observance of the following guidelines will prevent some common errors:
Nomenclature
If your paper lists objects that are newly discovered, the IAU Commission 5, through its Task Group on Designations, requests that such objects be designated according to the IAU Recommendations for Nomenclature. The proper procedure is to design a name according to IAU rules and then to register it with the commission before the paper is published. Please be sure that any object that might have been named in the past is not now given a new, redundant, name.
Structure of a Manuscript
Your manuscript should consist of the following elements:
Title Page
This should include the following items:
Abstract
The abstract should summarize concisely the content and conclusions of the paper. The abstract should be a single paragraph of generally not more than 300 words (note there is a limit of 250 words for the ApJL), and should not contain reference citations.
Subject Key Words
A maximum of six subject key words – see list – should be listed, in alphabetical order, after the abstract.
Text
Section Headings
Sections should be numbered with Arabic numerals. Subsections (second-level headings) should be numbered 1.1., 1.2., 1.3., etc. Third- and fourth-level headings should be numbered, e.g., 1.2.1. and 1.2.1.1., respectively. First-level titles (e.g., §1) and Appendix titles should all be in capital letters; second-, third-, and fourth-level (e.g., §1.1, §1.1.1., §1.1.1.1.) titles should capitalize only the first letter of each word, except for articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.
Footnotes
Extensive use of footnotes is discouraged. Footnotes should be confined to providing URLs, affiliations, or other truly peripheral information, and should not be used for discussions of or expansions on the text.
Text footnotes should be numbered consecutively, starting with those on the title page.
Footnotes to tables should be designated by lower-case letters, in alphabetical order, starting with "a" in each table (see sample table). Each table should have its own complete set of footnotes, even if some or all of the footnotes are repeated in later tables.
Acknowledgments
At the end of the paper individuals, institutions, or funding agencies may be acknowledged. Authors may also acknowledge the referee(s) if they wish. However, it is not appropriate to acknowledge journal staff.
Mathematics
Numbering
For convenience of citation of equations, authors are encouraged to number all displayed equations. Plain sequential numbering through the manuscript is preferred, with Appendix equations numbered as, e.g., (A79), or starting a new sequence with (A1).
Equations should not be referred to by their numbers alone; e.g., say "substituting in equation (45)" rather than "substituting in (45)."
Notation
Authors should ensure that mathematical notation is clear, distinct, and consistent throughout the manuscript. Care should be taken to distinguish between l (el) and 1 (one); O (capital oh), o (lower-case oh), and 0 (zero); (epsilon), ε (curly epsilon), and (the symbol for set membership); v (italic vee) and ν (Greek nu); k (italic kay) and κ (Greek kappa); and φ (Greek phi) and (the symbol for the empty set).
Multiplication
Explicit multiplication signs (dots or crosses), except for scientific notation, grids, vector operators, and when a multiplication wraps to a following line, are omitted.
Vectors
Vectors are normally distinguished by bold italic type (e.g., B); arrows over symbols are not used to denote vectors. Vector operations and operators (e.g., ×, ·, ∇) are also set bold. Multi-dimensional vectors (n-vectors) are generally set italic (not bold). Tensors may be set bold non-italic if it is necessary to distinguish them from vectors. If you have certain mathematical conventions that you wish to be observed in the typesetting of your paper (such as distinct fonts to distinguish 3- and 4-vectors, tensors, vector components, etc.), please alert the copyeditor to these in an accompanying note or comment.
Symbol Fonts
If other fonts are needed to distinguish functions or other operators from italic (R), script (calligraphic) characters () are preferred; blackboard (), sans serif (R), and Fraktur () should be avoided if possible. Named functions or numbers are preferably designated by two-letter abbreviations, e.g., Ra for Raleigh number.
Scientific Notation
Values given in scientific notation should be expressed with a multiplication sign preceding the power of 10 (e.g., 3.4×10-18); in tables only, to conserve space, the form 3.4E-18 may be used.
Subscripts and Superscripts
These will be set aligned unless an order of subscripts and superscripts is explicitly requested by the author in a note accompanying the manuscript. If a specific sequence of subscripts and superscripts is required, e.g., Rhijk or Rjkhi, authors should indicate the correct sequence by a comment in the electronic file at the first occurrence.
Single-letter subscripts and indexes referring to variables are conventionally set in italic, but subscripts standing for proper names (E for Einstein), chemical elements (H), or abbreviations of words with two or more letters (eff) are set in roman.
Fractions
Stacked fractions are not permitted in the body of the text or in superscripts: e.g., inline and superscript fractions should be set as dt /ds, not . Authors should take care that numerators and denominators of inline fractions are delimited clearly to avoid any possible ambiguity (i.e., write [(log Tsq )]/r or log[(Ts)q /r], not log Tsq /r). In displayed equations, fractions are limited to two levels, i.e., is correct, not .
Punctuation
Equations are read as part of the flow of a sentence and are punctuated as such.
References
Citations in Text
References should be cited in text by the last name of the author(s) and the date of publication (Hale 1929). There is no comma before the date. For papers with two authors, join author names with an ampersand (Press & Rybicki 1992). Papers by three or more authors are cited by the first author followed by et al. and the date (Goodman et al. 2003).
References are given in parentheses unless the author's name is part of the sentence, e.g., "the σ-model (Smoot et al. 1992)" but "according to Smoot et al. (1992)." If a parenthetical citation cites two or more papers, separate them by a semicolon: (Vittorio & Turner 1987; Peebles 1993). If two or more papers by the same author(s) is/are cited together, the author(s) is listed just once, with the dates of the papers following, separated by commas: (Peebles 1982, 1993, 1995). To distinguish papers by the same author(s) published in the same year, append a, b, c, etc., to the date: e.g., Paczynski (1995a, 1995b).
Reference List
Format
All sources cited in the text and tables must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper, and all entries in the reference list must be cited in the text. Reference entries should be ordered alphabetically, starting with the last name of the first author, followed by the first author's initial(s), and so on for each additional author. For papers with more than eight authors, the last name and initials of the first author only should be listed, followed by a comma and "et al." References listed as "et al." are grouped together and last, as if the second author started with "z"; they are not alphabetized by the name of the actual second author. Multiple entries for one author or one group of authors should be ordered chronologically, and multiple entries for the same year should be distinguished by appending sequential lower-case letters to the year, even if the author groups are not identical: e.g., Smith, E., Rowe, T., & Jones, A. B. 1999a; Smith, A. B., Thomas, J. R., & Peebles, P. J. E. 1999b; Smith et al. 1999c (because all will appear as "Smith et al. 1999" in the text).
Citation of Electronic Sources
Electronic catalogs, databases, observers' guides, instrument documentation, electronic conference proceedings, electronic journals, and other stable (non-changing) documents available online should be listed in the reference list in the same manner as other references. These should give the author(s) or authoring agency, title of the document, location and name of the hosting organization (e.g., Pasadena, CA: JPL), version consulted if any, page or document number if any, and the URL (see examples below). References in this class include databases, manuals, conference proceedings, and similar documents, but not general informational sites for instruments or projects, sites for downloading computer code, or papers posted on personal web pages. Citations of electronic journals should follow normal journal format, omitting page number if none are used, followed by the URL. See below for examples.
Note that URLs for all other electronic resources, such as personal web pages, general informational sites for organizations, telescopes, surveys, projects, proposals, sites for uploading computer or mathematical code, and other sites whose content regularly changes, should be given in a footnote at first mention in the text, but not listed in the reference list.
Unpublished Material
References to papers in preparation, preprints, or other sources generally not available to readers should be avoided if possible. If no published form is available, preprints may be listed in the reference list. Private communications, unpublished works, and papers in preparation should be cited only in the run of text, giving authors' initials and the year if completion is imminent, e.g., F. Carlon et al. (2004, in preparation).
Examples
Examples are given here of some of the most common citation formats.
Journal Paper
Martín, E. L., Rebolo, R., & Zapatero Osorio, M. R. 1996, ApJ, 469, 706
Book
Donat, W., III, & Boksenberg, A. J. 1993, The Astronomical Almanac for the Year 1994, Vol. 2 (2nd ed.; Washington, DC: GPO)
Where specific pages of a book are cited, these should be given at the text citation, not in the reference list.
Paper or Chapter in an Edited Collection
Huchra, J. P. 1986, in Inner Space/Outer Space, ed. E. W. Kolb et al. (Chicago, IL: Univ. Chicago Press), 65
Conference Proceedings
Salpeter, E. E., & Wasserman, I. M. 1993, in ASP Conf. Ser. 36, Planets around Pulsars, ed. J. A. Phillips, S. E. Thorsett, & S. R. Kulkarni (San Francisco, CA: ASP), 345
Electronic Conference Proceedings (published only online)
Gomez, M. 2000, in Cosmology 2000, ed. M.C. Bento, O. Bertolami, & L. Teodoro (Lisbon: Inst. Superio Tecnico), 57, http://alfa.ist.utl.pt/~bento/cosmo2000/proc/proceedings.html
Star Catalogs
Hoffleit, D. 1982, The Bright Star Catalogue (New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Obs.)
Electronic Newsletters (published only online)
Hermoso, D. 1996, ESA IUE Electron. Newsl. 46, http://www.vilspa.esa.es/iue/nl/newsl_46.html Bersier, D., et al. 2004, GCN Circ. 2544, http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/2544.gcn3
Instrument Documentation
Gussenhoven, M. S., Mullen, E. G., & Sagalyn, R. C. 1985, CRRES/SPACERAD Instrument Description, Document AFGL-TR-85-0017 (Hanscom, MA: Air Force Geophys. Lab.) Spitzer Science Center. 2004, Spitzer Observers' Manual (Pasadena, CA: SSC), http://sirtf.caltech.edu/SSC/obs/
Preprints
Smith, A. B. 1999, arXiv:astro-ph/9812345 (style for preprints before April 2007) Smith, A. B. 2007, arXiv:0702.1234 (style for preprints after April 2007) Lockwood, G. W., & Skiff, B. A. 1988, Air Force Geophys. Lab. preprint (AFGL-TR-88-0221)
References to preprints are acceptable only for papers not yet in print. For papers that have been accepted but are not yet in print, the preprint number may be given at the end of a reference submitted or in press (i.e., Smith, A. B. 1999, AJ, in press (arXiv:astro-ph/9912345)).
Papers Submitted or In Press
Wolk, S. J., & Walter, F. M. 1999, AJ, submitted Wolk, S. J., & Walter, F. M. 1999, AJ, in press
"Submitted" should be used for manuscripts not yet accepted for publication, and "in press" for manuscripts accepted but not yet published.
Journal Abbreviations
Acronyms for some frequently cited journals are given below:
Authors will be queried for missing, incomplete, or incorrect information in the reference list. It is especially important that authors recheck reference lists after each revision of the text, to be certain that all references cited in the text are in the reference list, and all references given in the reference list are cited.
Tables
Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and should be cited in the text by number, e.g., "see Table 1." Each table must be mentioned at least once in the text, and in proper numerical order. In the printed paper, the placement of tables will be determined by their first mention in the text. Tables should not be divided into parts, e.g., related tables should be numbered separately, not given as Tables 3A and 3B. Tables in an appendix may be numbered in the same sequence as the text tables, or may begin a new sequence, e.g., Table 9 or Table A1.
Every table should have a concise title (less than a sentence); more extensive descriptions or secondary information should be incorporated in a note to the table. All tables are typeset with horizontal rules only; no vertical rules are used. Tables should not contain empty rows. Each column, including the first, must have a heading. Column headings should label the entries concisely (one or two words); the first letter of each word is capitalized. Units of measurement should be given in parentheses immediately below the column headings, not listed with the data in the body of the table. To indicate the omission of an entry, ellipsis dots (...) are used.
References cited in a table may be listed in full in a reference column or listed by number, either in the order in which they are listed in the column or following an alphabetical ordering of the references, with the full citation by name(s) and year in a note below the table. Alphanumeric abbreviations (e.g., SR86) may be used in place of numbers if these are used elsewhere in the text. The note to the table should then read, e.g., "References. (1) Smith & Roe 1986; (2) Peebles 1993." (see sample table). All references cited in tables must also have a complete entry in the reference list.
Extended Online-only and Machine-readable Tables
For very lengthy tables, authors have the option of publishing a truncated version of the table in the print version of the journal, with the entire table appearing in the online version. Such tables are charged at the single-page rate, regardless of total length. (For the ApJL only, there is a limit of one machine-readable table per Letter, and no additional charge.)
In addition to the option of displaying only a truncated version of a table in the print version with the complete table in ASCII format online, authors also have the option of posting standard format, machine-readable versions of long tables. The machine-readable format supplements and will appear in addition to the ASCII format; a note will appear with the print version of the table alerting the reader that a machine-readable form can be accessed online. ASCII tables contain the raw, tab-delimited data, whereas machine-readable tables are formatted and include a metadata header that documents the format, units, and a short description of each column.
Authors who require machine-readable tables should request this at the time of submission, and must include the data with the submission so that it can be evaluated during the review process. The data should be either raw ASCII (formatted or delimited) or in the form of a LaTeX table. Word/RTF users should save the table as a tab-delimited ASCII file. It is desirable to include information regarding the format, units, and a short description of each column when an ASCII table is submitted. Authors may also attempt to create their own machine-readable tables using a web-based converter. When submitting, authors should name the ASCII tables tab#.txt, where # is the table number.
For each machine-readable table the author must consider how its corresponding version will appear in print. In the majority of cases, a short "stub" version of the table is printed. The stub table is the same as the full table except that only the first 5 to 15 lines of data are printed to indicate the content of the table to the reader. The author is responsible for creating the stub version of the table, and it should be included in the manuscript.
Any stub table should be cited and numbered as if it were a full table.
In the rare cases in which the tabular data are so complex that a printed example is not possible, authors have the option to show an empty table in the print version. The empty table contains only the table number, title, and a note directing the reader to the electronic version for the full data.
Machine-readable tables will be sent to the paper's corresponding author for "proofing". Since this is the only opportunity that an author will have to verify the accuracy of the machine-readable tables before publication in the electronic version, authors should check the tables carefully, in particular the metadata headers.
For further information, authors are urged to contact the AAS Journals' Staff Scientist, Dr. Greg Schwarz.
Figures
Authors are encouraged to submit all figures electronically as vector Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files; detailed guidelines are available. Spelling and use of numbers and units in figures should conform to usage in the body of the text and figure legends.
A readme file detailing any special requests for sizing or arranging figures should accompany submission of the manuscript. Production staff will do their best to accommodate these requests. Alterations requested after the manuscript is typeset will result in additional charges to the author.
Figure numbering
Figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and should be cited in the text by number, e.g., "see Figure 1." Each figure must be mentioned at least once in the text, and in proper numerical order. In the printed paper, the placement of figures will be determined by their first mention in the text. This includes online-only figures.
Figure Legends
Figure legends should clearly and concisely label and explain figures and parts of figures. The first sentence of each figure legend should be a descriptive phrase, omitting the initial article (the, a, an). In multi-part figures, the legends should distinguish (a), (b), (c), etc., components of the figure. Note that if parts are identified in the legend as (a), (b), (c), particularly for single figures composed of multiple panels, these letters should be clearly labeled in the figure itself. Otherwise panels should be referred to by position (top right, top left, middle, bottom, etc.). All lines (solid, dashed, dot-dashed, dash-dotted, etc.) and symbols (filled or open circles, squares, triangles, crosses, arrows, etc.) should be explained in the legend. Graphics or glyphs should not be used in figure legends.
Color Figures
Reproduction of color figures in the print version of a journal carries an additional charge; this does not apply to the ApJL as there are no charges for print color in this journal. Authors may avoid the additional charge, if applicable, by choosing to have figures appear in black and white in the print version and in color in the online version of the journal. If they wish to take advantage of this option, authors should submit both black and white and color EPS files of the figure for the print and online versions, respectively. Authors should not use color in files that are intended for black and white reproduction in the print version. We recommend the use of gray levels between 20% and 70%, with at least 20% difference between the levels of gray, when preparing gray-scale figures. A screen of 80 lpi or lower (coarser) should be used, and figures should be rendered as close to final publication size as possible, since reduction can cause levels of gray to drop out. Shaded areas that are extremely dark or light may not reproduce well, and should be avoided if possible.
Color EPS files for print should be prepared as channeled CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) files rather than RGB (red, green, blue) files. Most computer-generated figure files are created using the RGB color model, which is used for devices, such as computer monitors, that create color with light. The CMYK system uses the four process colors used in printing and is therefore the necessary format for figure files to be used for printing. Color figures prepared as RGB EPS files can be converted to CMYK, but because the available color gamut in the RGB model is much larger than the gamut available in the CMYK model, it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to match the colors exactly between the two formats. No guarantee can be given as to the quality of color in files that must be converted from RGB to CMYK. It should also be noted that hard copies produced from RGB files by desktop color printers can still contain colors outside of the range of the CMYK palette. Desktop printers may use dyes or wax transfers that create colors that cannot be duplicated by the available CMYK color palette. Color figure files intended for use only in the online version may be submitted as RGB files.
The optimum resolution for CMYK files is 300 dpi.
Online-only Figures
Online-only figures are intended to provide supplementary information that is not critical to the scientific content of the paper but that provides additional useful information for the reader. They are not allowed when the figures are an integral part of the paper, or simply to limit page charges. Such materials will carry a nominal publication charge depending on the number and size of the figure files, but again this will be a small fraction of the cost of printing the same volume of material. Note that online-only materials are subject to the same peer-review standards as the rest of the manuscript, and their inclusion should be justified on scientific grounds.
Note that supplementary online figures are not permitted in the ApJL.
Online-only figures must be numbered according to standard figure numbering rules, and must be numbered in sequence with the rest of the figures appearing in the paper. Large figure sets should be numbered as parts of a single figure in the format 1.1 ... 1.n or 1a ... 1z rather than as a run of individually numbered figures. At least one figure in a series must be displayed as an example figure for the print version. The example figure caption should include the note: "Figures 1.1–1.n are available in the online version of the Journal." Authors should clearly indicate in their readme file when submitting which figures are to appear only in the electronic version. If each component of an online-only figure has its own figure caption, the captions should be included in a separate LaTeX file called efigscaptions.tex. Further details on Figure Set Markup are available.
Finally, note that, while The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series welcomes the submission of substantial astronomical data sets for publication, enormous compendia of uninterpreted data are best archived in an astronomical data center. As the National Virtual Observatory initiative takes shape, we hope to be able to establish effective cross-linking between scientific papers and the supporting data and thus exploit the potential power of electronic publishing completely.
Other Online-only Materials
Online-only tables and figures have been covered in the preceding sections.
The AAS journals support the inclusion of a variety of supplementary online-only materials (e.g., animations, source codes) to accompany papers (at an additional charge). Note that online-only materials are subject to the same peer-review standards as the rest of the manuscript, and their inclusion should be justified on scientific grounds. Papers should also stand on their own scientifically without the online-only materials.
Note that the ApJL permits animations, but not source codes; there is no additional charge for these.
Animations
Animations in the form of mpeg files can be included as, or to accompany, figures in the online version of the journal. This can be especially useful for papers that present the results of numerical simulations or calculations. The animation file should be numbered as a figure in the normal run of figures. The author should also provide a clean, separate copy of a single still frame or set of frames to appear as the figure in the print version.
Source Codes
Authors may elect to post any of their source code pertinent to their paper. The code can be written in any language, but extremely long and complex programs with numerous subroutines are not appropriate. Executable files are not accepted.
Authors wishing to submit source codes as a part of their paper need to be aware of the following:
Tar files
If the source code contains numerous subroutines files, all of the files can be packaged together and submitted as a UNIX tar file. The metadata header should then be included in the packaged file as a separate file called readme. All source code submissions should be called sourcecode.txt for a single program or sourcecode.tar for a tar file containing a series of files.
Submitting Your Manuscript
Authors are strongly encouraged to submit their papers electronically to speed up peer review and facilitate the production process. This can be done via the web using IOP Publishing's online submission form, e-mail or FTP; we recommend that the web be used whenever possible.
Regardless of submission method, you are required to provide us with important information about your submission to allow us to process it correctly. For web submissions you can type these details into the online submission form. For e-mail submissions, send the submission information as the main body text of the e-mail. For FTP submissions, create an ASCII text file called readme.txt and include it with your submission. For hard-copy submissions, please include a typed sheet with your manuscript.
The following information should be included:
For electronic submission all of the files (text, graphics, readme, supplementary material) relating to your manuscript should be combined into a single, compressed archive file for ease of handling and to save you time and space. We support all common compression formats including WinZip, PKZip, tar+gzip etc. Please name the resulting file filename.ext where the first four characters of filename are the first four characters of your surname and the last four are the current day and month in MMDD format (e.g. smit0531) and .ext is an extension (maximum three letters) denoting the file type (e.g. zip for a PKZip file, sit for a Stuffit file, .uu for a uuencoded file). If you have any difficulty archiving your files, please contact IOP Publishing for assistance (esubs@iop.org).
If you are submitting a revised version of your manuscript, please remember to include a list of changes, and (if applicable) a reply to the referee.
Web Submission
Web submissions are handled via IOP Publishing's automated manuscript submission and tracking system. This system is also used by the journal's Editors, Editorial Office, and referees to perform the peer-review process and communicate with authors.
All common web browsers are supported.
If you are using this system for the first time, we will set up a personal author homepage for you as soon as we receive your submitted manuscript. From this personal homepage, you will be able to track the progress of your manuscript(s), respond to the referee report(s), submit your revised version(s), and make sure your final manuscript is ready for publication.
Submitting via IOP Publishing for the First Time
Once you have chosen the journal to which you are submitting, the submission procedure is in two steps:
Step 1: Enter manuscript details By giving us as much information about your submission as possible you can help us avoid problems later in the publication process and your paper will be more likely to be published quickly.
Step 2: Upload files Upload your manuscript files from your local drive. By ensuring that your manuscript files are complete and accurate you can help us avoid problems later in the publication process and your paper will be more likely to be published quickly.
Returning Authors
First, login to your personal author homepage using the username and password we have sent you. Then click on the "Submit an article" link in the left-hand panel.
Once you have chosen the journal to which you are submitting, the submission procedure is in three steps:
Step 2: Upload files Upload your manuscript files from your local drive.
PDF files are required for the peer-review process: there are several options for you to tell us how to manage the files you upload:
If you choose to build a PDF online, an "Organize files" screen enables you to select and classify the files you want to build into the PDF.
Whichever option you choose, your manuscript files are transferred to our server in this step, but await checking and finalization by you in the third step.
Step 3: Finish submission This step enables you to check the manuscript details you have given us and the manuscript files you have uploaded.
If you have chosen to build a PDF of your paper online, you can check and approve the PDF we have built for you. Please check that you are happy with the text and figures but do not concern yourself with changes in formatting such as font sizes and line or page breaks. If you are happy with the PDF produced, press the "Send PDF" button to send the PDF and your electronic files to us. Your manuscript will begin the peer-review process immediately. Alternatively, if you are not happy with your manuscript PDF, you can try changing your manuscript files by pressing the "Change" button, or you can press the "Send article file" button to send your electronic files for IOP Publishing staff to process.
If you are not ready to finish your submission, you can save as draft and return to your homepage later to complete the submission.
By checking that your manuscript details and manuscript files are complete and accurate you can help us avoid problems later in the publication process and your paper will be more likely to be published quickly.
E-mail Submission
Send your manuscript's single, compressed archive file as an attachment to an e-mail to the journal's e-mail address (see the journal's homepage) with the words "electronic submission" in the subject line. Please do not send each of your text and graphics files as separate e-mails as this causes a considerable delay in processing your submission.
Note: Some e-mail systems have a file size limit, for example 1 MB. If this is the case for your e-mail system, files that are larger than 1 MB after compression should not be split into multiple parts, but should be sent using IOP Publishing's online submission form, or via FTP.
FTP Submission
Send your manuscript's single compressed archive file (including a readme file) by anonymous FTP to ftp.iop.org.
Hard-copy Submission
For hard-copy submissions, two copies of the manuscript and two sets of original figures should be sent to the appropriate Editor-in-Chief at the address given on the journal's homepage. Hard-copy submissions are strongly discouraged and, except for the ApJL, are charged at a higher page-charge rate to cover the cost of additional processing.
Laser-printed originals of hard-copy figures will be scanned for production purposes. Figures should be of high quality to ensure accuracy and clarity in the final published versions. Artwork should be in good focus, with clean, clear numbers and letters, and sharp, black lines. Thin lines, particularly in figures requiring considerable reduction, should be avoided. Original, professionally drafted artwork may be submitted for reproduction, but freehand-drawn or hand-lettered artwork cannot be accepted for publication. Style points noted in the graphics guidelines regarding figures supplied electronically apply equally to hard-copy figures.
Halftones supplied as hard copies should be continuous-tone prints, made from original negatives, and printed on a matte-coated stock. When photographs include large irrelevant areas, please indicate cropping lines on an overlay.
The Production and Publication Process
IOP Publishing is responsible to the AAS for production and publication of The Astronomical Journal and The Astrophysical Journal.
Copyediting, Proofs, and Proof Correction
Following acceptance for publication, your paper will be copyedited and processed for style and layout, and we will contact you by e-mail when the PDF proof is ready for you to check on your personal author homepage. We may refer back to you during the copyediting process if we encounter problems or ambiguities in your paper, but minor queries will be transferred to the proof of your paper for you to resolve at this stage.
You can view and download the PDF proof using the "Check proof" task on your manuscript's "Article details" page. You should check your proof carefully and return corrections using the web page provided. This is the most efficient way to send your corrections to us.
If you wish to send your corrections to us using e-mail, we prefer to receive a list with each correction given a precise location in terms of, e.g., page and line number. You can also send corrections by fax or regular mail.
You should not amend the PDF proof file, add annotations, or send an amended manuscript file at this stage.
When checking your proof you should pay particular attention to mathematics, tables, and references, and respond to any queries raised during the copyediting of your manuscript. Only essential corrections should be made, and you will be charged for excessive corrections arising from your own errors and/or omissions. If any figures require correction, you should provide a new graphics file for each.
The corrections you request will be assessed by IOP Publishing's production staff; corrections that affect the scientific content or results of the paper will be referred to the Editor-in-Chief for decision.
Corrections will be incorporated into the file for your paper, and it will be prepared for online and print publication.
"Redlined" Proofs
In addition to the PDF proof of their paper, authors will also have access, via their personal author homepage, to a PDF file showing the major copyediting (principally linguistic) changes that have been made to their manuscript during production. (Note that stylistic and layout changes will not be indicated on this "redlined" proof; it is provided as additional, optional information for authors who would like to check the copyediting of their paper in detail.) All significant changes will be queried in the proof, and for most manuscripts inspection of the "redlined" version should not be necessary. Proof corrections must be made with reference to the PDF proof only.
Reprints
You may purchase reprints of your paper using the order form available from your paper's "Article details" page on your personal author homepage. This form (which also requests information required for invoicing for payment of publication charges) must be completed, even if you do not wish to purchase reprints, no later than the time at which you return your proof corrections.
Requests to purchase reprints after print publication should be addressed to [journal mailbox]@iop.org.
Publication
You will be provided with full citation data for your paper when it is published online.
Copyright and Reproduction of Copyrighted Material
Copyright
Before your paper can be published in an American Astronomical Society (AAS) journal, we require you to grant and assign the entire copyright in it to the AAS. The copyright consists of all rights protected by the copyright laws of the United States and of all foreign countries, in all languages and forms of communication, including the right to furnish the paper or the abstract to abstracting and indexing services, and the right to republish the entire paper in any format or medium. In return, the AAS grants to you the non-exclusive right of republication, subject only to your giving appropriate credit to the journal in which your paper is published. This non-exclusive right of republication includes your right to allow reproduction of parts of your paper wherever you wish, and to post the published (PDF) version of your paper on your personal web site. To protect the copyright in your paper, the original copyright notice as it appears in the journal should be included in the credit.
If your manuscript is accepted for publication we require you to read, sign, and return the Copyright Agreement to us. We cannot publish your paper without this approval. In the event that your manuscript is not accepted for publication, you will be notified in writing and the copyright and all rights conferred by copyright shall revert to you.
The agreement should be signed by at least one of the authors (who agrees to inform the others, if any) or, in the case of a work made for hire, by the employer.
An author who is a U.S. Government officer or employee and who prepared the manuscript as part of his or her official duties does not own any copyright in it. If at least one of the authors is not a U.S. Government Employee one of those non-government authors should sign the Copyright Agreement.
Reproduction of Copyrighted Materials
The AAS is eager for the information published in its journals to reach the widest possible audience and it encourages the reuse of figures, tables, or other materials in review papers, textbooks, and other appropriate means of scholarly communication. To ensure the long-term access of the research community to its archives, the AAS holds the copyright on all copyrightable materials published in its journals, but the Society grants control of the right to reproduce the material to the original authors as long as they are alive.
Multiple copies may be made for classroom use provided (1) that no charge is made for such copies (other than a nominal charge to cover the cost of reprography), (2) that such copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, and (3) that the copies bear the American Astronomical Society copyright notice.
Libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service may photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients in the U.S.A., provided that the per-copy fee is paid directly to CCC, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, U.S.A.
Permission to Use AAS Material in Other Publications
Permission to reproduce material from papers published in AAS journals is managed on behalf of the AAS by IOP Publishing. In order to gain permission to reproduce material under AAS copyright, you should do the following:
Permission to Use Non-AAS Material in AAS Journals
When you submit a manuscript for publication in an AAS journal and you choose to use material (including short extracts or diagrams) published previously by other authors in journals other than those of the AAS, then you must first obtain the written permission of the author and the publisher concerned. You must submit signed copies of the applicable permission forms when you submit your manuscript. We do not perform this task for you.
Permission Forms
Permission request forms are available for the use of authors of AAS journal manuscripts, as well as those authors who may wish to make use of material from AAS journals.
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