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All Posts by Christopher Biemesderfer
Journals Update: The AAS Journals Business Model is Sound
My last two columns have looked at some issues related to the Society’s publishing business model. In July, I wrote an overview of the Open Access advocacy that has been taking place all year. And in September, I reviewed (at some length!) the value proposition of the scholarly publishing process generally. In this column, I want to try and impress you with the merits of the business model we use (and have used for 100 years). I will do that by addressing the two principal arguments I hear for switching to a pure open access approach.
Does the AAS publish Book Reviews?
The AAS will only publish book reviews for books that cover astronomical education, career development and public policy. Educational book reviews may be submitted to the Astronomy Education Review. The AAS Newsletter occasionally contains summaries of non-scientific books in the areas of career development or public policy.
Will the AAS review research manuscripts?
The AAS will NOT review or comment upon research manuscripts unless they are submitted for publication in one of the AAS journals in accord with the instructions for that journal.
Where can I find a copy of the AAS Photo-Bulletin on Technical Pan Film?
The AAS Photo-Bulletins are available through the Astrophysics Data System. To retrieve the issue, enter volume#24, highlight the American Astronomical Society Photo-Bulletin and hit the Send Request button.
How can one find astronomical papers by specific authors or subjects?
The Astrophysics Data System, sponsored by NASA, has an extensive, searchable archive of data on astronomical publications.
How do I get permission to reproduce materials from the AAS journals?
The AAS requires that you get the permission from the author and send a notification of the material to be used and where it will be used to permissions@iop.org. See: http://aas.org/copyrightPolicy
Do the Divisions Publish Journals?
No Division publishes its own journal. The DPS has a formal relation with the journal Icarus.
Why don't you use Rₒ for Rossby numbers?
In conventional mathematical notation, an italic letter with a subscript generally denotes a variable taken at or with reference to some condition (indexed by the subscript). Thus, R om , the subscript m appearing here in the same way as for other single italic variables, would be the correct notation for, say, observed resonance, optical radius, etc.
Why have you closed up "multicell" but not "single-cell"?
AAS journalsclose up dependent prefixes (non-, ultra-, sub-, super-, multi-, etc.) Multi- is a dependent prefix (you cannot say "the cell is multi"), and so is closed up. But "single" is not a dependent prefix; it is normal adjective (you can say "the cell is single"), and so the proper form is a hyphenated compound adjective, single-cell.
Why does "early-type" have a hyphen in some places but not in others? Shouldn't this be consistent?
Compound terms such as "early type," "V band," and "intermediate redshift" are hyphenated when they are used as adjectives (as in "many early-type stars were seen in intermediate-redshift V-band observations") but open as nouns ("we find many early types at intermediate redshifts in the V band"), following conventional English style for compound nouns and adjectives.
Why do you capitalize "Belt" in the Kuiper Belt, but not "bar" in the Galactic bar?
AAS journals follow standard practice in capitalizing generic terms that form a part of a proper name of a distinct, unique geographical or celestial region.
Why don't you capitalize "fundamental plane"?
AAS journals follow the Chicago Manual of Style in not capitalizing the names of theories, concepts, and ideas, such as "fundamental plane."
Why is it incorrect to say "is comprised of"?
"Comprise" means "contains, is made up of, embraces": the whole comprises the parts, the parts compose the whole. "Is comprised of" should properly be rephrased as either "comprises" or "is composed of" ("the galaxy comprises many stars" or "the galaxy is composed of many stars").
I was always taught not to split infinitives. Yet the copyeditor changed my "to confirm empirically the result" to "to empirically confirm the result.. Isn't that wrong?
Split infinitives are an old chimaera of English grammar. Actually, it is not true that it is illegal to split infinitives in English. To quote the Chicago Manual of Style , "Although from about 1850 to 1925 many grammarians stated otherwise, it is now widely acknowledged that adverbs sometimes justifiably separate the "to" from the principal verb." (5.106) ApJ , as a modern journal, is happy to concur.
Is physics singular or plural? For example, in the sentence "The uncertain physics of convective and circulatory flows need/needs to be addressed" should the verb properly be "need" or "needs"?
Physics, while plural in derivation, is generally construed as a singular noun except when referring to several "physics" (i.e., two or more different systems of physics). In this sentence, where the meaning is "uncertainty in the field of physics," the singular form "needs" would be correct.
When I checked my proofs I discovered that some changes to a table are required. The table also has a machine-readable component associated with it for the electronic edition. How do I make sure that the machine-readable table gets corrected?
Correct the proof as you normally would but also contact Dr. Greg Schwarz with the details of the table changes when you return proofs to the Press
Can I make changes to my paper immediately after the paper is accepted and before the copy editing begins?
That depends on the number of changes you need to make. If it is only a few minor corrections then you should wait until you are contacted by the copy editor or when you receive the proofs. If the changes are extensive, contact the editorial offices so that the paper can be pulled from its assigned issue. The revised paper will have to be sent to the scientific editor to review the changes. Once the changes are accepted, the paper will be assigned to another issue.
How do I convert a RGB figure into a CMYK figure?
Image programs such as Adobe Photoshop can be used to make the conversion.
What is CMYK and why do I have to submit figures in that color scheme for the print edition?
CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Most computer-generated figure files are created using the RGB (red, green, blue) color model, which is used for devices, such as computer monitors, that create color with light. The CMYK system uses the 4 process colors used in printing, and is therefore the necessary format for figure files to be used for printing.