Bookmark and Share

Publishing in CAPjournal: Step-by-Step

Here you can learn more about the publication process and how to submit. Note that as of April 2022, we have changed the submission process. Please follow the guidelines below to submit an article to the Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal.

STEP 1 - Type of Submission

Choose the type of submission that you wish to submit to CAPjournal.
Note: Make sure to read the Call for Papers for open calls and deadlines for application.

The submission types include:

  1. News: Short articles that report a recent astronomical news item, usually accompanied with an image or artist’s depiction, that had an impact on the latest updates from the astronomy communication, outreach, and public engagement communities. (500 words).
  2. Announcements: Short articles are updates from the astronomy communication community regarding conferences, awards, or any relevant event (500-1000 words).
  3. Reviews: Short articles that report on and review books, resources and conferences in astronomy communication and outreach. The authors are solely responsible for their opinion pieces. All reviews are personal and do not reflect the position of the IAU or the CAPjournal Editorial Staff or Board (500-1000 words).
  4. Research and Applications: These articles are longer and present research in astronomy communication, public engagement, or related fields (3500-7000 words).
  5. Resources: This is a repository for outreach ideas and cutting-edge astronomy communication methods (800-1500 words).
  6. Best Practices: These articles are an in-depth guide to the methods and techniques that work best in communicating astronomy (3500-7000 words).
  7. Opinion: These articles are subjective discussions of topics related to astronomy communication (800-1500 words).
  8. Column: These articles provide an overview of an outreach initiative in astronomy outreach and public engagement. These are articles that focus on the description of the activity or event without going too in-depth on the methodologies behind the initiative but that are still relevant to the community (800-1500 words).
  9. Case Study: A case study details an exemplary situation and provides an in-depth analysis of the context, the implications of the case, and the lessons learned (1000-2000 words).
  10. Interview: These contributions present interviews with influential members of our community and serve to preserve their knowledge and advice (800-2500 words).

STEP 2 - Instructions for Submission

Note that we are no longer requesting abstracts before the full article submission. Please submit complete articles according to the guidelines below.

  1. Preparing Your Article
    Authors are asked to prepare their submissions using Microsoft Word (or other compatible word processors) or GoogleDocs, according to the guidelines and templates provided by the Editorial Staff (see #3 below). Note that all comments will, by default, be returned via GoogleDocs. If this is a barrier, please indicate as such in the email with your submission. Please plan accordingly.

  2. Author List
    Members of the Editorial Staff, including the Executive Editor, Editor-in-Chief, and Managing Editor, in addition to members of the Editorial Board, are not permitted to submit articles for consideration as the first author.

    3. The first author is assumed to be the corresponding author (unless otherwise stated) and is responsible for verifying all co-authors’ names and affiliations and that the co-authors approve of the final author list.

  3. What You Need to Provide
    When preparing your article please ensure that you follow these Submission Guidelines:

    1. Use the Open Document Template (download RTF, DOCX)
    2. Ensure that your paper includes a Summary.
    3. Suggest 3-6 keywords from our list (download PDF); the final selection of keywords will be made by the Editorial Board.
    4. Do not add headers or footers to your template.
    5. Figures should be submitted as separate files in high-resolution TIFF, JPEG, PDF or EPS format.
    6. The sample text in the template file includes further instructions for preparing your manuscript.
    7. The corresponding author should read and acknowledge the CAPjournal Ethics Policy (PDF; see #2 under Step 3 below) in their submission email.
    8. The corresponding author should additionally submit a Copyright Assignment form (PDF; see #3 under Step 3 below) signed by the corresponding author.
    9. If you have any questions about these guidelines or preparing your manuscript, please contact capjournal@oao.iau.org.

    The Editorial Staff reserves the right to reject any submissions not deemed to be sufficiently compliant with these Submission Guidelines.

  4. Where & When to Send your Full Submission
    Full articles can be sent to the Editorial Staff (capjournal@oao.iau.org) at any time throughout the year. Please note, however, that the Journal publishes at most three issues per year. We ask for your patience as we assemble the issues.

STEP 3 - Considerations for Authors

  1. Ethics Policy
    Authors should read our Ethics Policy and submit a statement of acknowledgement with their submissions (e.g., “I acknowledge the policies laid out in the CAPjournal Ethics Policy and will adhere to them throughout the editorial and publication processes”).

  2. Copyright

    The CAPjournal is licensed under a Creative Commons License: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY NC ND 4.0). Users have the right to read, copy, or share any part of the full texts of the articles published in CAPjournal Issues, provided an appropriate attribution is included and some indication of how the article was changed.

    1. Authors are solely responsible for properly attributing and ensuring copyright clearance to reproduce illustrations, figures, text, etc., for which they themselves do not own the copyright.
    2. The corresponding author should fill out and sign the Copyright Assignment form (PDF). Submit this with your article submission and Ethics Policy acknowledgement.

STEP 4 - Publication

Where to Find Your Article
Your submission, once published, will be available on our free online platform. In addition, we produce a small number of printed copies of the CAPjournal for those with limited access to the Internet. If you are interested in this service and believe you qualify, please see the Subscription page.
Join the network