Instructions to Authors

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (abbreviated to PASJ in the following) publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy, astrophysics, and fields closely related to them.

Letters to the Editor are papers which aim at quick communication of observational as well as theoretical results having strong impacts on astronomy. Letters must not exceed six pages in length. Estimated pages can be counted by using the latest version of conventional LaTeX macro (pasj02.cls).

Work submitted for publication must be original, previously unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Links to Sections

Submission
Publication Ethics
Charges
Manuscript Format / Style
Figures and Illustrations
Permission to Reproduce Figures and Extracts
Availability of Data and Materials
Data Citation
Supplementary Data
Copyright and Licence
Crossref Funding Data Registry
Proofs
Advance Access
Author Self-Archiving/Public Access Policy

Submission

Please read these instructions carefully and follow them closely to ensure that the review and publication of your paper is as efficient and quick as possible. The Editors reserve the right to return manuscripts that are not in accordance with these instructions.
All material to be considered for publication in PASJ should be submitted in electronic form. PASJ does not accept paper submissions.
Please refer to the ‘Instructions for electronic submission’ for guidance on the online submission process.

Publication Ethics

Authors should observe high standards with respect to publication ethics as set out by the Commission on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification or fabrication of data, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the authors’ own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of the work are all unacceptable practices. Any cases of ethical misconduct are treated very seriously and will be dealt with in accordance with the COPE guidelines

Authorship

All authors listed on the manuscript should have contributed significantly to the experimental design, its implementation, or analysis and interpretation of the data. All authors should have been involved in the writing of the manuscript at draft and any revision stages, and have read and approved the final version. Anyone who made major contributions to the writing of the manuscript should be listed as an author.　For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and contributors.

The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.

Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content or images, write code, process data, or for translation) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.

After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made unless there is a substantive reason to do so. The editor and all co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates authorship disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office at [email protected]. The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.

After submission, changing who is designated as the corresponding author will be permitted only where there is a substantive reason to do so. For the avoidance of doubt, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible. For more information on Read and Publish funding, see the Open access charges section.

Originality

By submitting your manuscript to the journal it is understood that this it is an original manuscript and is unpublished work and is not under consideration elsewhere. Plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the author’s own work, in whole or in part without proper citation is not tolerated by the journal. Manuscripts submitted to the journal will be checked for originality using anti-plagiarism software

Conflicts of interest

At the point of submission, each author should reveal any financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the work reported or the conclusions, implications, or opinions stated – including pertinent commercial or other sources of funding for the individual author(s) or for the associated department(s) or organization(s), personal relationships, or direct academic competition. When considering whether you should declare a conflicting interest or connection please consider the conflict of interest test: Is there any arrangement that would embarrass you or any of your co-authors if it was to emerge after publication and you had not declared it?

Charges

Charges apply for publication in PASJ; please note that no payments are required prior to peer review and acceptance. You will be asked to confirm requirements for your article either at time of submission or after acceptance. Details of the charges which may apply are given below.

Page charges

All articles incur a charge per typeset page which must be paid in full. Page charges are payable once the article proof is ready for publication. Full ASJ members are eligible for a discounted member rate. Note that page charges are not applied for papers published under an open access license. The page charge is set in yen, but the authors may select a currency of their choice at the time of payment.

Standard rate: ¥6,000 

Open access

PASJ offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution.

Should you wish to publish your article open access, you should select your choice of open access licence in our online system after your article has been accepted for publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence.

The charges below are applied to articles submitted after 1 Aug. 2024.

Standard Open Access Charge: \358,550
Member Open Access Charge: \286,840

Details of the open access licences and open access charges.

OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.

Full ASJ members are eligible for a discount to the open access charge. Authors will be asked to prove eligibility for the member discount.

The invoice for Open Access charges will be raised when you sign your copyright license form online.

Manuscript Format and Style

Authors are requested to follow the general style of recent issues of PASJ. It is recommended that papers are prepared using LaTeX because this is the method best suited to the mathematical nature of the material. We can usually also accept papers written using Microsoft Word or other word processing packages, although these are not suitable for papers with significant mathematical content. Typescripts should be single space and double (or single) column. Please number each line and page.

LaTeX : For submission of TeX manuscripts, PASJ strongly recommends the use of its TeX template, which can be found below:

Class Files. Updated 03/07/2024

For more detailed instructions about LaTeX submissions, please visit the following webpage: https://dbpia.nl.go.kr/journals/pages/authors/preparing_your_manuscript
Please make sure that the files are in correct form before completing your submission. See "FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS" for more detailed information on how to prepare your figures.

All figures and tables should be numbered in the order in which they first appear and referenced in the text. 

Please also include the files for any other supplementary material to be submitted with your manuscript. It is recommended that authors spell-check all files before submission.

Please use short, simple filenames when saving all your documents, and avoid special characters, punctuation marks, symbols (such as &), and spaces. If you are a Macintosh user, you must also type the extension at the end of the file name you choose.

Title and author information

The first page of the paper should contain:

1. The title should be concise but informative. The title should be written in sentence case.
2. The full name(s) of the author(s): It is important that authors ensure the following: (i) all names have the correct spelling and are in the correct order (first name, then family name); (ii) initials are correct. Occasionally, the distinction between surnames and forenames can be ambiguous, and this is to ensure that the authors’ full surnames and forenames are tagged correctly, for accurate indexing online.
3. The name(s) of the institution(s) where the work was carried out with their address(es).
4. The email address of one of the authors. When several authors belonging to different institutions are involved, the following example illustrates the correct style.

Ichiro SUZUKI,¹ John A. BROWN,¹ and Kazuko TAKAHASHI^2
1 Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
² Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan

This should be followed by:

Abstract

The abstract should be comprehensible to readers before they have read the paper, and reference and figure citations must be avoided. It should be one paragraph long and not exceed 300 words.

Key words

Authors should select three to five key words from the list of PASJ's key words.

Abbreviations

Non-standard abbreviations should be defined at the first occurrence and introduced only where multiple use is made

Section titles

Papers should be sectioned with section numbers in Arabic numerals, followed by titles in the same format as the title of the paper.

Funding

Details of all funding sources for the work in question should be given in a separate section entitled 'Funding'. This should appear before the 'Acknowledgements' section. An example sentence is given below: This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 11111111 and MEXT KAKENHI Grant Number 22222222.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments may be added as an extra section just after the main text.

Appendices

Appendices may be put between the main text (including the acknowledgments) and the references. They should be arranged like sections.

References

Two or more references with the same authors: 

Smith and King (2003a, 2003b) (Smith & King 2003a, 2003b)

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references.

Author's names in reference list:

One-author paper - Arrange chronologically

Brown, A. 1981a 

Brown, A. 1981b

Two-author paper - should be sorted alphabetically by the name of the co-author then chronologically 

Brown, B., & Adams, A. 1985, . . . 

Brown, B., & Smith, S. 1985, . . .

Three or more authors papers - should be sorted chronologically 

Brown, B., Adams, A., & Clive, C. 1989a, MNRAS, 123, 456 

Brown, B., Adams, A., & Ho, H. 1989b, MNRAS, 123, 567

For eight or more authors - Only eight or fewer names should appear in a single reference; if there are more, write as 'first author et al'.

Note: Journal titles in the references should be abbreviated.

Author's names in the text :

Two authors - “and” are used for citing outside parentheses Smith and King (2000)

Ampersands(&) are used for citing in parentheses (Smith & King 2000)

Three Authors - References with three authors should have all three listed for citing outside of parenthesis Smith, King, and Lee (2000) Use “et al.” with the first author for citing in parentheses. (Smith et al. 2000)

Four or more authors - If there are four or more authors, et al. is used throughout and the year in parenthesis, e.g., Scoville et al. (1975).

References given in parentheses should be separated by semicolons, e.g., (Scoville et al 1975; Sugiyama 2011).

When references are cited in the text, the last name of the author(s) and the publication year should be mentioned. The author's name may appear either in the text or in parentheses, but the publication year should always appear in parentheses.

When a reference is to a paper that has been submitted for publication, “submitted'” should be used concerning the known status of the paper. “In press” should be used for the paper that has been accepted for publication but not published yet. Do not list an unfinished work, such as “unpublished,” “to be published,” or “in preparation.”

Tables

Each table should be numbered sequentially using Arabic numerals. Tables should be given brief titles. Explanation, if necessary, should be put under the table as notes. Avoid the use of vertical lines in tables.

Figures

Lettering in the figures should use the same typeface and format as the main text. A brief descriptive caption should be provided for each figure. For more details of figure requirements, see "FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS"

Equations

Equations should be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals in parentheses on the right-hand side. Equations in appendices make another sequence as (A1), (A2) etc. Equations are regarded as part of sentences; thus periods and commas should be added. When simple mathematical formulae are put into sentences, avoid, for example e ^{-1/ x} and ^y / _x . They should be written in a linear form, as exp(-1/ x ) and y / x . (When simple mathematical formulae are put into sentences, avoid, for example, \(e^{-1/x}\) and \(\frac{y}{x}\). They should be written in a linear form, as \(\exp(-1/x)\) and \(y/x\). When references are made to figures, tables, and equations, they should be written as figure 1, table 3, section 5, equation (25) [avoid Fig. 1, Tab. 3, Sec. 5, Eq. (25)].

Mathematics

Subscripts and Superscripts Single letter -- roman/italic according to what the subscript denotes Proper names -- roman Multiletter -- roman

Differential Operator Differential d set in italic

Exponential 'e' Set e in italic

Iota 'i' Set i in italic

Fractions in the text Use 1/2 as a subscript or superscript in equations and in the text. If changing a fraction to a solidus in more complex superscripts, be very careful not to corrupt the mathematical meaning: e.g., is not the same as a/b+c. Insert brackets if necessary: e.g., a/(b + c)

Others Partial differential roman:for variables, its π sin, cos, tanh, log, exp, etc,. roman Dot multiplication for vectors is OK Vector cross-products should be set as a = b x c Unnecessary centred dots in maths should be removed

Scalars should be italics: S Vectors should be bold italics: S Matrices should be bold roman sans serif: M Tensors should be bold italics T Change 1-σ or 1-sigma to 1σ (repeat σ in serial data, e.g., 1σ, 2σ, 3σ, and 5σ)

Figures and Illustrations

Please be aware that the requirements for online submission and for reproduction in the journal are different: (i) for online submission and peer review, please upload your figures either separately as low-resolution images (.jpg, .tif, .gif, .pdf or .eps) or embedded in the word processing file; (ii) for reproduction in the journal, you will be required after acceptance to supply high-resolution files, either in vector graphics or in an editable format (such as .ppt). Minimum resolutions are 300 d.p.i. for color or tone images, and 600 d.p.i. for line drawings. We advise that you create your high-resolution images first as these can be easily converted into low-resolution images for online submission.

Embedded text should not be typed by the language-dependent characters fonts, and outlining all texts are highly encouraged.

When creating figures, please make sure any embedded text is large enough to read. Many figures contain miniscule characters such as numbers on a chart or graph. If these characters are not easily readable, they will most likely be illegible in the final version. Certain image formats such as .jpg and .gif do not have high resolutions, so you may elect to save your figures and insert them as .tif instead.

For useful information on preparing your figures for publication, go to this page.

Figure accessibility and alt text

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.  

Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs. 

Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article. 

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text. 

At the end of each figure caption, authors must include a brief
description that starts with "Alt text" and is written per the guidelines.

Permission to Reproduce Figures and Extracts

Permission to reproduce copyright material, for online publication in perpetuity, must be cleared and if necessary paid for by the author; this includes applications and payments to DACS, ARS and similar licensing agencies where appropriate. Evidence in writing that such permissions have been secured from the rights-holder must be made available to the editors. It is also the author's responsibility to include acknowledgements as stipulated by the particular institutions. Please note that obtaining copyright permission could take some time. Oxford Journals can offer information and documentation to assist authors in securing permissions: please see the Guidelines for Authors section in Rights and Permissions. 

Should you require copies of this then please contact the editorial office of the journal in question or the Oxford Journals Rights department on [email protected]

For a copyright prose work, it is recommended that permission is obtained for the use of extracts longer than 400 words; a series of extracts totaling more than 800 words, of which any one extract is more than 300 words; or an extract or series of extracts comprising one-quarter of the work or more.

Availability of Data and Materials

Where ethically feasible, PASJ strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. Information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by subject area, is available at Choosing where to archive your data.

Data Citation

PASJ supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and requires that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI). Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite:

[dataset]* Authors, Year, Title, Publisher (repository or archive name), Identifier

*The inclusion of the [dataset] tag at the beginning of the citation helps us to correctly identify and tag the citation. This tag will be removed from the citation published in the reference list.

Supplementary Data

Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, can be made available by the publisher, linked to the online manuscript free of charge.

The material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper, but should contain data that is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, or additional figures.

It is standard practice for appendices to be made available online as supplementary data. All text, figures, and movies must be provided in suitable electronic formats. Author should prepare both legends and summary of the data, since that will be also reviewed by a referee. Avoid using the Language-dependent characters in each data.

All material to be considered as supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication, and will not be edited. Please indicate clearly all material intended as supplementary data upon submission and name the files e.g., 'supplementary figure 1', 'supplementary data', etc. Also ensure that the supplementary data is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary, for example as '(see supplementary data)' or '(see supplementary figure 1)'. Please limit the total file size of supplementary data to 40 MB.

If you have supplementary data for your article, please ensure every supplementary material file contains the phrase “supplementary data” as part of the actual file name. For example, “Figure A1_Supplementary Data.” This is important for production purposes so the files are published in the correct place.

Copyright and Licence

It is a condition of publication for PASJ that authors grant an exclusive license to the Journal, published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Astronomical Society of Japan. This ensures that all of the necessary rights needed for publication of the article, including provision for any requests from third parties to reproduce content from the journals, are in place and are handled efficiently and consistently by OUP, enabling the content to be as widely disseminated as possible. No article will be published unless a license has been signed. Any queries about the license should be sent as soon as possible to Rights and Permissions so that any issues can be resolved quickly and to avoid any delay in publication.

As part of the terms of the license agreement, Authors may use their own material in other publications written or edited by themselves provided that the journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication and Oxford University Press as the Publisher. As the Author(s), copyright of the Article remains yours (or your employer’s if your employer claims copyright in your work). See here for full details of Oxford Journals' copyright policy and the rights retained by you/your institution under the terms of the license. Please note that for any content published as part of the Oxford Open program, there is an extended range of rights retained by you as the Author. More details.

Details of how to sign the license using our online system will be sent after acceptance.

Crossref Funding Data Registry

In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.

Proofs

Authors are sent page proofs by email. These should be checked immediately and corrections, as well as answers to any queries, returned to the editors as an annotated PDF via email within 3 working days (further details are supplied with the proof). It is the author's responsibility to check proofs thoroughly.
The author will receive only the first proof for proof-reading. It is requested that she/he examines it with the utmost care, since the second proof is not sent to the author.

Serious changes in content are not permitted at proof stage, however the author may add notes in proof.

Advance Access

Advance Access articles are published online soon after they have been accepted for publication, in advance of their appearance in a journal issue. Appearance in Advance constitutes official publication, and the Advance Access version can be cited by a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier ). When an article appears in an issue, it is removed from the Advance Access page.

Author Self-Archiving/Public Access Policy

For information about this journal's policy, please visit our Author Self-Archiving policy page.
For PhD candidates at universities in Japan: Authors publishing all or part of their PhD thesis in PASJ may deposit the Accepted Manuscript PDF of the portion of their thesis published in the journal in the awarding institution's repository in accordance with academic degree regulations, but must stipulate that public availability be delayed until 12 months after first online publication in the journal.
*Accepted Manuscript
The accepted manuscript is defined here as the final draft author manuscript, as accepted for publication by a journal, including modifications based on referees’ suggestions, before it has undergone copyediting and proof correction.