Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society (RNAAS, http://rnaas.aas.org) is a new publication in the AAS portfolio (ApJ, AJ, ApJ Supplements, ApJ Letters) through which authors can promptly and briefly share materials of interest with the astronomical
community.
The astronomical community has long faced a challenge in disseminating information that may not meet the criteria for a traditional journal article. There have generally been few options available for sharing works in progress, comments and clarifications, null results, and timely reports of observations (such as the spectrum of a supernova), as well as results that wouldn’t traditionally merit a full paper (such as the discovery of a single exoplanet or contributions to the monitoring of variable sources).
Launched in 2017, RNAAS was developed as a supported and long-term communication channel for results such as these that would otherwise be difficult to broadly disseminate to the professional community and persistently archive for future reference. Research Notes are free to read and currently carry no author publication charges.
Submissions to RNAAS should be brief communications — 1,500 words or fewer, and no more than a single figure or table — and should be written in a style similar to that of a traditional AAS journal article (including references, where appropriate). As of May 1, 2020 a short abstract is required. For more detailed instructions see Research Note Preparation Guidelines.
Unlike the other journals in the AAS portfolio, RNAAS publications are not peer reviewed or copy-edited; they are, however, reviewed by an editor for appropriateness and format before publication. If accepted, RNAAS submissions are typically published online within 72 hours of manuscript receipt. Each RNAAS article is issued a DOI and indexed by ADS to create a long-term, citable record of work.
