''Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)'' is a monthly

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

. It is operated by an editorial team under the supervision of a board of directors representing 27 sponsoring countries plus a representative of the

European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 m ...

. The journal is published by

EDP Sciences EDP Sciences (Édition Diffusion Presse Sciences) is an STM publisher that disseminates scientific information for specialist and more general audiences (general public, decision-makers, teachers, etc.). EDP produces and publishes international ...

and the current

editors-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

are Thierry Forveille and João Alves.

History

Origins

''Astronomy & Astrophysics'' was created as an answer to the publishing situation found in Europe in the 1960s. At that time, multiple journals were being published in several countries around the continent. These journals usually had a limited number of subscribers, and articles were written in languages other than English. They were less widely read than American and British journals and the research they reported had therefore less impact in the community. Starting in 1963, conversations between astronomers from European countries assessed the need for a common astronomical journal. On 8 April 1968, leading astronomers from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavian countries met in

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

to prepare a possible merging of some of the principal existing journals. It was proposed that the new journal be called ''Astronomy and Astrophysics, A European Journal''. The main policy-making body of the new journal was to be the "Board of Directors", consisting of senior astronomers or government representatives of the sponsoring countries. The board appoints the editors-in chief, who are responsible for the scientific contents of the journal. The

was chosen as an additional body that acts on behalf of the board and handles the administrative, financial, and legal matters of the journal. A second meeting held in July 1968 in Brussels cemented the agreement discussed in Leiden. Each nation established an annual monetary contribution and appointed its delegates for the board of directors. Also at this meeting, the first editors-in-chief were appointed: Stuart Pottasch and Jean-Louis Steinberg. The next meeting took place in Paris on 11 October 1968 and is officially regarded as the first meeting of the board of directors. At this meeting, the first chairman of the board,

Adriaan Blaauw Adriaan Blaauw (12 April 1914 – 1 December 2010) was a Dutch astronomer. Blaauw was born in Amsterdam to Cornelis Blaauw and Gesina Clasina Zwart, and studied at Leiden University and the University of Groningen, obtaining his doctorate at the ...

, was appointed, and the contract with the publisher

Springer Science+Business Media Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

was formalized.

Early years

The first issue of A&A was published in January 1969, merging several national journals of individual European countries into one comprehensive publication. These journals, with their ISSN and date of first publication, are as follows: *''Annales d'Astrophysique'' (France), established in 1938 * ''Bulletin of the Astronomical Institutes of the Netherlands'' (Netherlands), established in 1921 * ''Bulletin Astronomique'' (France), established in 1884 * ''Journal des Observateurs'' (France), established in 1915 * ''Zeitschrift für Astrophysik'' (Germany), established in 1930 Arkiv för Astronomi (), established in 1948 in Sweden, was also incorporated in 1973. The publishing of Astronomy & Astrophysics was further extended in 1992 by the incorporation of Bulletin of the Astronomical Institutes of Czechoslovakia
SSN 0004-6248
, established in 1947. There were only four issues of the journal in 1969, but it soon became a monthly publication and one of the four major generalist astronomical journals in the world. Initially, papers were submitted in English, French or German, but it soon became clear that, for a given author, the papers in English were cited twice as often as those in other languages. In addition to regular research papers in several different fields of astrophysics. A&A featured Letters and Research Notes for short manuscripts on a significant result or idea. A Supplement Series for the journal was created in 1970 for publishing extensive tabular material and catalogs.

21st century

The turn of the century brought important changes to the journal. In 2001, a new contract was signed with EDP Sciences, which replaced Springer as the publishing house. Special Issues featuring results of astronomical surveys and space missions such as

XMM-Newton ''XMM-Newton'', also known as the High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Mission and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission, is an X-ray space observatory launched by the European Space Agency in December 1999 on an Ariane 5 rocket. It is the second corners ...

Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (; ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical p ...

Rosetta Rosetta ( ) or Rashid (, ; ) is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The Rosetta Stone was discovered there in 1799. Founded around the 9th century on the site of the ancient town of Bolbitine, R ...

, and

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

were introduced. The editorial structure of the journal was profoundly changed in 2003 and 2005 to involve more countries in the editorial process and to better handle the increasing number of submissions. Precise criteria for publishing in Astronomy & Astrophysics were explicited in 2004. English language editing was introduced in 2001 as a service to the diverse authorship of the journal. An extensive survey of authors conducted in 2007 showed widespread satisfaction with the new directions of the journal, although the use of structured abstracts proved more controversial. The evolution of electronic publishing resulted in the extinction of the Supplement Series, which was incorporated in the main journal in 2001, and of the printed edition in 2016. The Research Notes section was also discontinued in 2016. In 2023, A&A announced the introduction o
links between articles and corresponding ESO datasets
The journal editorial office is located at the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...

and is supervised by the managing editor. It handles over 2000 papers per year. An archive of the published articles and related material is maintained by the

Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentric ...

Sponsoring countries

The original sponsoring countries were the four countries whose journals merged to form ''Astronomy & Astrophysics'' (France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden), together with Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. Norway later withdrew, but Austria, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland joined during the 1970s and 1980s. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia all joined as new members in the 1990s. In 2001 the words "A European Journal" were removed from the front cover in recognition of the fact that the journal was becoming increasingly global in scope. In effect, Argentina was admitted as an "observer" in 2002. In 2004 the board of directors decided that the journal "will henceforth consider applications for sponsoring membership from any country in the world with well-documented active and excellent astronomical research". Argentina became the first non-European country to gain full membership in 2005, followed by Brazil and Chile in 2006 (Brazil withdrew in 2016). Other European countries also joined during the 21st century: Portugal, Croatia, and Bulgaria during the 2010s, and Armenia, Lithuania, Norway, Serbia and Ukraine in the 2010s. The current list of member countries is listed here.

Chairs of the Board of Directors

The following persons are or have been chairs of the Board of Directors: *2023 - : A. Kučinskas *2022-2023: W. J. Duschl *2016-2022: A. Moitinho *2014-2016: J. Lub *2011-2013: B. Nordstroem *2010: K.S. de Boer *2005-2009: G. Meynet *1999-2004: Aa. Sandqvist *1993-1998: A. Maeder *1979-1992: G. Contopoulos *1969-1978: A. Blaauw

Editors-in-Chief

* 2012 - : ''Main Journal:'' Thierry Forveille, ''Letters:'' João Alves (replaced Malcolm Walmsley in 2013) * 2006 - 2011: ''Main Journal:'' Claude Bertout; ''Letters:'' Malcolm Walmsley * 2004 - 2005: ''Main Journal:'' Claude Bertout; ''Letters:'' Peter Schneider * 1999 - 2003: ''Main Journal:'' Claude Bertout, Harm Habing; ''Letters:'' Peter Schneider * 1996 - 1998: ''Main Journal:'' James Lequeux, Harm Habing; ''Letters:'' Peter Schneider (replaced Stuart Pottasch in 1997) * 1988 - 1995: ''Main Journal:'' James Lequeux, Michael Grewing; ''Letters:'' Stuart Pottasch * 1986 - 1988: ''Main Journal:'' Françoise Praderie, Michael Grewing; ''Letters:'' Stuart Pottasch * 1983 - 1985: ''Main Journal:'' Catherine Cesarsky, Michael Grewing; ''Letters:'' Stuart Pottasch * 1981 - 1982: ''Main Journal:'' James Lequeux, Michael Grewing; ''Letters:'' Stuart Pottasch * 1979 - 1980: ''Main Journal:'' James Lequeux, Hans-Heinrich Voigt; ''Letters:'' Stuart Pottasch * 1975 - 1978: ''Main Journal:'' Jean Heidmann, Hans-Heinrich Voigt; ''Letters:'' Stuart Pottasch (from 1976 on) * 1973 - 1974: Jean Heidmann, Stuart Pottasch * 1969 - 1972
Jean-Louis Steinberg
Stuart Pottasch

Open access

Before 2022, the most recent issue of A&A was available free of charge for readers. Authors had the option to pay article processing charges ( APC) for immediate and permanent open access. Furthermore, all Letters to the Editor and all articles published i
Sections
12 to 15 were in free access at no cost to the authors. Articles in the other sections of the journal were made freely available 12 months after publication ( delayed open-access), through the publisher's site and via the

Astrophysics Data System The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library portal for researchers on astronomy and physics, operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ADS maintains three bibliographic collections containing over 15 ...

. Since the beginning of 2022, ''Astronomy & Astrophysics'' is published in full open access under the Subscribe to Open (S2O) model.

Scientific Writing School

A&A organises Scientific Writing Schools aimed at postgraduate students and young researchers. The purpose of these schools is to teach young authors how to express their scientific results through adequate and efficient science writing. As of 2025, six of these schools were organised in Belgium (2008 and 2009), Hungary (2014), Chile (2016), China (2019), and Portugal (2025).

Abstracting and indexing

This journal is abstracted and indexed in: According to the ''

Journal Citation Reports ''Journal Citation Reports'' (''JCR'') is an annual publication by Clarivate. It has been integrated with the Web of Science and is accessed from the Web of Science Core Collection. It provides information about academic journals in the natur ...

'', the journal has a 2022

impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a type of journal ranking. Journals with higher impact factor values are considered more prestigious or important within their field. The Impact Factor of a journa ...

of 6.5.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Astronomy and Astrophysics Astronomy in Europe Astronomy journals Astrophysics journals Academic journals established in 1969 English-language journals EDP Sciences academic journals European Southern Observatory Monthly journals Delayed open access journals