RAS launches new multi-disciplinary journal

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is pleased to announce the launch of its first new journal in almost 100 years. Tentatively titled RAS Techniques and Instruments, it will cover topics in astronomy and geophysics ranging from instrumentation, data science, machine learning, software, and numerical and statistical methods. The RAS plans to release the first issue in the spring of 2022.

The new journal will operate under the gold open access model: all articles will be free for all to read and re-use under a CC-BY licence, advancing the long-standing RAS commitment to open science and easy sharing of information. It will provide a high-quality, specialist home for papers that would otherwise be sent to more generalist astronomy and geophysics journals, or to specialist journals that do not directly serve these disciplines.

Recognising the complementary and multi-disciplinary nature of many methods and techniques across the physical sciences, the new offering will bridge the gap between the current journals of the RAS, Geophysical Journal International, established in 1922 and originally entitled ‘Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Geophysical Supplement’, and the flagship astronomy journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The first Editor-in-Chief will be Prof. Jonathan Tennyson FRS, a distinguished scientist working in the fields of optical spectroscopy and theoretical molecular physics. Prof. Tennyson is Principal Investigator of the ExoMol project, which aims to build a comprehensive database of molecular data that underpins the spectral modelling of exoplanets, brown dwarfs, and cool stars.

Prof. Tennyson says, “It is an honour to be founding Editor-in-Chief of this new journal. Numbers drive modern science, and RAS T&I will make data, software, and numerical techniques as well as information on cutting-edge instruments available to as wide an audience as possible. In particular, RAS T&I will reflect the transformative nature of machine learning and artificial intelligence in all areas of astronomical and geophysical research.”

Dr Kim Clube, RAS Publishing Manager, comments: “We are delighted to be able to respond to the potential demand we see in this subject area, and add another offering to our portfolio of high-impact peer-reviewed journals. Our new journal will serve the community, helping authors to comply with changing research funder policies, and supporting open science and easy access to information, which the RAS has for a long time encouraged.”

The new journal will be published by Oxford University Press, and the RAS is currently inviting renowned researchers representing scientific expertise from around the world to join the new editorial board. The first submissions to the new journal will be invited from autumn 2021.

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