A Few Updates to AAS Journal Style

You may have noticed a few recent changes in the look and style of articles published in AAS journals. The Journals staff has been hard at work on a complete revamping of the AASTeX code; the upcoming AASTeX v7.0 release will clean up many backend issues. In tandem with this, the Publications Committee has identified a few key spots in AAS journal style where improvements could be made to better align with community standards and our core values. Recent style updates include:

1. No longer requiring that “Large Magellanic Cloud” and “Small Magellanic Cloud” be spelled out on first use in articles.
   Manuscripts are no longer required to spell out the acronyms “LMC” and “SMC” on first reference. The widespread community understanding of the meaning of these two particular acronyms ensures that the meaning of the text will still be clear if authors choose not to fully spell out the acronyms. A similar policy was previously adopted for JWST. These policies are included in the AAS Style Guide.
2. Including article titles in the reference list for articles published in the Planetary Science Journal
   The community standard for planetary science is to include article titles in the reference list, along with author names, journal title, year of publication, and volume and page numbers. To bring the style of PSJ into alignment with planetary science community standards, reference lists for manuscripts published in PSJ will now have the ability to include article titles as described in the PSJ Policies and Guidelines.
3. Including initials in inline citations in all AAS journal articles
   Inline citations such as “(Smith et al. 2024)” will now include author first initials as well, e.g., “(T. Smith et al. 2024)”. The use of authors’ names in inline citations (rather than reference numbers, such as “[8]”) allows researchers to be readily recognized and associated with their area of work, boosting career visibility. Authors with very common last names, however, are at a disadvantage in this organic recognition — and this disproportionately affects authors with heritage from geographic regions such as Latin America and east Asia where there are some extremely common last names. The addition of author initials to inline citations helps address this inequity and provides a simple and immediate way to better identify researchers while reading articles, bringing AAS journal style more in line with the AAS Mission and Vision Statement and our core value of inclusivity.

We are continuing to work to improve the publishing and reading experience for all AAS journals authors and readers, and we continue to remain attentive to community input. Stay tuned for more info regarding the AASTeX v7.0 rollout in the coming months!

— Misty Bentz (on behalf of the Publications Committee)