Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA)

Focus and Scope

We are pleased and proud to announce that a new peer-reviewed international journal, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA), will be launched in the coming International Year of Astronomy, 2009. The new journal has been established by transforming the bi-monthly journal Chinese Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ChJAA) into a monthly journal, and by involving scientific co-operation with several neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

RAA will be a journal of excellence and be representative to the rapidly growing research in astronomy and astrophysics, not only in China, but the whole Asia-Pacific region and beyond. The journal has a distinguished editorial board with extensive academic qualifications, ensuring high academic standards and a broad international coverage. RAA will be a non-commercial journal with no page charges for all the authors. New papers published for the first month in RAA will be free of downloading for all the readers. It aims to provide a forum for the rapid dissemination and communication of significant original research as well as reviews in astronomy and astrophysics. The journal welcomes submissions from astronomers world-wide.

Practical advantages to publishing in RAA
- fast track communications
- no page charges
- one month free access after publication

Section Policies

Mini-Volume: LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (Guest Editor: Joss Bland-Hawthorn)

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Invited Reviews

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Letters

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

ERRATUM

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

When a paper is submitted, authors may identify individuals who they believe have conflict of interest and should not serve as referees. Likewise, individuals who are asked to review a paper should identify any potential conflicts of interest, so the editor can determine whether these are substantive enough to disqualify that reviewer.

General procedure

Step 1. Manuscript Processing and Checking

Manuscripts can be submitted electronically or by email to RAA now, and these manuscripts first go through a checking process at the editorial office. The editorial office first check that all files arrived intact, then print the paper, to check for any major errors that would prevent the paper from being refereed. If problems arise you will be contacted by the editorial office. During this process a manuscript number is assigned. Our tracking system is based on this number, so we ask that you always refer to it when inquiring about your paper.

Step 2. Assignment to an Editor-in-Chief

The manuscript will be assigned to an Editor-in-Chief to look over and then assigned to a Scientific Editor (SE) to oversee its peer review.

Step 3. Assignment to a Scientific Editor

The peer review process will be overseen by the SE. A small fraction of the manuscripts may be returned to their authors at that point, if they are inappropriate for the RAA or if the English is so poor that a referee will be unable to review the paper. The latter are returned with advice on how to correct the deficiencies.

The RAA currently has 14 SEs, and the Editors make every effort to assign each paper to a SE with expertise in the relevant subfield.

Step 4. Assignment to a Referee and the Review

The SE will read your paper, draw up a list of prospective referees, and recruit a reviewer for your paper. You may suggest possible referees, especially if the subject addressed by your paper is a very specialized one, but usually we prefer to select one independently.

In most instances referees are asked to return a report within 4 weeks of receiving the paper. This requirement may be relaxed for unusually long or complex papers, where more time is needed for a thorough review. If a report is not received by the deadline, the SE or editorial office will remind the referee on a regular basis. Taking into account to the initial handling of the paper, you can generally expect to receive a report within 6 weeks of submission. You can check our website for the status of the paper automatically.

Step 5. Responding to the Referee Report

The SE or Editorial Office will edit the referee report to remove identifying information (unless the referee waives anonymity), confidential comments, and any other inappropriate remarks before forwarding it to you. The SE may also provide clarification or comments of his own.

If the report recommends that the paper be revised and re-submitted, the SE or Editorial Office will provide instructions for resubmitting the paper. Your submission should include a cover letter that describes your response to the referee report point by point.

Step 6. Reviewing the Revised Manuscript

When your revised manuscript is received, it will be checked as before and forwarded directly to your SE. At that stage the editor will decide whether to accept the revised paper, return it to the referee for a second review, or to return it to you for further revision.

In some instances this process will be repeated for a second or third time, especially if the revisions to the original manuscript were of a substantial nature.

Step 7: Acceptance

Your SE will make the final decision on whether to accept the paper for publication, and you will be informed of acceptance by email.

Publication Frequency

This journal is published monthly.

Delayed Open Access

The contents of this journal will be available in an open access format 0 month(s) after an issue is published.

Peer Review Policy

Manuscripts submitted to RAA will reviewed by a single-reviewer who takes responsibility for evaluating the scientific veracity, clarity, and significance of the results presented.

Conflict of interest
Individuals who are asked to review a paper should contacted us if you are:

* a co-worker or collaborator with one of the authors
* in direct competition with the authors
* in a position which prevents you from giving an objective opinion of the work.

the editor will select an alternative reviewer then.

We recognize the importance of highlighting articles that contain the most interesting, important or significant research. Peer reviewers are asked to indicate which articles they consider to be especially interesting or significant. These articles will be given greater prominence within RAA and greater external publicity.

Referee reports

Referee reports are sent to the authors. You should bear this in mind when preparing your report.

The identity of referees is strictly confidential, except in cases where referees waive their anonymity with the concurrence of the editor, all RAA peer reviews are conducted under conditions of strict confidentiality.

We also ask that you do not discuss the papers you have reviewed with colleagues unless they have been published.

Peer reviewer will have four possible options, for each article:
1. accept without revision
2. accept after revision without expecting to check those revisions
3. neither accept nor reject until author(s) make revisions and resubmit
4. reject because scientifically unsound

Peer reviewers are asked to say if the article is not sufficiently clearly written for publication. In such cases authors are asked to revise the article, seeking, if necessary, the assistance of colleagues or a commercial editing service.

Revised Papers

When authors make revisions to their article in response to the referee's comments they are asked to submit a list of changes and any replies for transmission to the referees. The revised version is returned to the referees who is then asked whether the revisions have been carried out satisfactorily. If the referee remain dissatisfied, the Paper can be referred to the Editorial Board of RAA for further consideration.

We aim to publish research as quickly as possible. Our electronic submission process is designed to expedite publication.