Manuscript Preparation Guidelines

There are no submission or publication fees.

The Journal publishes Original Research, Reviews of the literature, Theoretical articles, and Open Peer Commentary.

Maximum Length: Research (6,000 words), Reviews (10,000 words), Theoretical (6,000 words), Commentary (2,000 words).

The Journal will not publish research articles which focus entirely on reporting new results or discoveries.

Do Not Use "Latex" Word Processing Programs

Do not employ footnotes and do not attach appendices.

Submit articles as a PDF attached to a submission email to the Editor.

Cover Letter: A cover letter must appear in the body of the submission email, providing 1) The Title of the article, 2) The Abstract, 3) The names and affiliations of the authors, 4) a statement that the attached article has not been previously published and is not under review elsewhere, and 5) the names and email addresses of 5 scientists qualified to peer review your article.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism, defined as taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own, will not be tolerated. The acceptable method of discussing work that has been published by others is via the use of references and quotes: Identify and reference your sources. The Journal also employs a Plagiarism Detector to detect direct copying.

Manuscript Guidelines

All manuscripts must be printed using Times 12 pt font, double spaced, with 1 inch margins and double-spaced throughout, including references.

Number each page at the bottom of the manuscript.

Page 1: Include on the first page the title of the paper and the names(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s), including mailing address(es) and email address(es).

The Abstract must appear on Page 1, immediately below the Title and Authors. The abstract should summarize the main arguments and conclusions of the author(s).

At the bottom of Page 1 (below the Abstract) list the Key Words, followed by the number of Words, Figures, Tables.

Page 2: The text begins on page 2. Capitalize the first letter of each word of major subheadings.

Figures, Tables. All Figures and Tables must be 300 Pixels and 8 inches wide. Embed Figures and Tables in the location in which they should appear. Insert the Figure Caption below each Figure.

Acknowledgements: Acknowledgments follow the ending of the main text, and are followed by References.

References: Articles must cite sources, journal articles, etc. Careful compliance with the instructions for preparing the list of references is required. Avoid excessive self-citation. Manuscripts with incomplete references or excessive self-citations may be returned to the author for correction before being sent for peer review.

Reference citations in the text should be in one of the following forms: Gallagher and Jones (2019) or (Gallagher & Smith, 2018); Jackson et al. (2013) or (Jackson et al. 2013); Hoppe et al. (2011, p. 299) or (Hoppe et al. 2011, p. 299). To distinguish two or more works by the same same first author in the same year, use suffices a, b, etc., following the year (e.g., Lorenz et al. 2006a,b).

Personal communications are not included in the reference list.

Literature citations in the bibliography should be listed alphabetically (and then chronologically) according to the surname of the (first) author. Several papers by the same authors should be listed as follows: list all papers by the author (if no co-authors) chronologically, then papers with the same author plus co-authors, and finally all articles where the first author has numerous co-authors. This latter group should be listed alphabetically according to the surname of the (first) author and then chronologically.

Journal references should contain the names and initials of all authors, the year, the title of the article, and the standard abbreviation of the journal, the volume number, and the first and last pages. As an exception to this rule, any article with more than 10 co-authors may be listed using a style like "Johanson, R. E., and 10 colleagues." Shown below are examples of the proper reference forms for a book, a journal article, and a book chapter, respectively.

Brandt, A. W. (2017). Plasma Physics. Harvard University Press, Boston, US.

Casagrande, V. W. (2019). The Multiverse. Proceedings of the Academy of Science, 75, 31-54.

Casagrande, V. W., Green, P., & Smith, V.A. (2011). The big bang vs steady state. Proceedings of the Academy of Science, 105, 221-230.

Williams, B. A., & Gruber, P. (2019) Why Mars is Lifeless. In: Gallagher, R. E., Smith, Q., Randals, P. P. (Eds.), Astrobiology, University of California Press, San Francisco, pp. 44-76.

Williams, B. A., George, J. A., Gruber, P. (2019) Life on Mars. In: Gallagher, R. E., Smith, Q., Randals, P. P. (Eds.), Astrobiology, University of California Press, San Francisco, pp. 221-300.

Peer Review

All articles will be peer reviewed and must be revised accordingly. An invitation to publish does not guarantee publication.

"Peer Review" will be a means of improving an article, to make it scholarly, up-to-date, and interesting, and provide guidelines for revision. In the submission cover letter, authors must provide the names and email addresses of five scientists qualified to serve as Referees.

Conditions & Permissions for Submission

Manuscripts are accepted for review with the understanding that the same work is not under review for publication elsewhere, and has not been previously published.

Submission for publication must be approved, in writing, by all of the authors.

Any person cited within the paper as a source of a personal communication, or whom is quoted directly, must approve of the citation or the quote, in writing.

Policy on Conflict of Interest

The Journal of Astrobiology requires all authors to state and indicate, in their submission cover letter, any conflicts of interest, e.g. writing a review which promotes the financial interests of the authors or their employer.

If there is a conflict of interest, this must also be specified at the end of the article (before the References), in a section titled: Conflicts of Interest.

Policy on Human and Animal Rights, and Informed Consent

The Journal of Astrobiology publishes original research, literature reviews, commentary and theoretical articles. The Journal does not publish new research unless presented as a supplement to the literature review.

If your review article includes new research involving humans the Journal requires documentation of "informed consent."

If your article includes new research involving animals, the Journal requires a statement that animal rights were respected.