| Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title (ISO) | Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., MNRAS |
| Discipline | Astronomy, astrophysics |
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Robert Carswell |
| Publication details | |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell for the Royal Astronomical Society (United Kingdom) |
| Publication history | 1827–present |
| Frequency | 36 issues/year |
| Impact factor (2008) |
5.185 |
| Indexing | |
| ISSN | 0035-8711 (print) 1365-2966 (web) |
| Links | |
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) is one of the world's leading scientific journals in astronomy and astrophysics. It has been in continuous existence since 1827 and publishes peer-reviewed letters and papers reporting original research in relevant fields. Despite the name, the journal is no longer monthly nor does it carry the notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Contents |
The first issue of MNRAS was published on 9 February 1827 as Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society of London and it has been in continuous publication ever since. It took its current name from the second volume, after the Astronomical Society of London became the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). Until 1960 it carried the monthly notices of the RAS, at which time these were transferred to the newly-established Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1960–1996) and then to its successor journal Astronomy & Geophysics (since 1997). Until 1965, MNRAS was published in-house by the RAS; since then, it has been published by Blackwell Scientific Publications (later Wiley-Blackwell) on behalf of the RAS.
As well, the journal is no longer monthly, with thirty-six issues a year divided into nine volumes.
MNRAS publishes peer-reviewed articles on original research in astronomy and astrophysics. Two sorts of article are carried by MNRAS: papers, which can be of any length, and letters, which are published more quickly but are limited to five pages in length. Letters used to appear on pink pages in the print edition of the journal, but are now only published in full in the online edition with a contents list in the print edition. Editorial control of the journal is exercised by the RAS through an editorial board of professional astronomers; as of July 2007, the Editor-in-Chief is Robert Carswell.
The stated policy of the RAS is "to focus on high quality papers through rigorous peer review and, as far as practicable, to provide free publication." Authors are not charged for publishing in MNRAS, with the costs of publications being met by subscriptions. MNRAS provides a form of open access by allowing authors (at their option) to pay for publication if they wish, allowing free access by anyone without charge (hybrid open access model). Fellows of the RAS are given free online access to the RAS journals as part of their membership benefits.[1] Downloadable PDF versions of MNRAS articles are made available via the Astrophysics Data System 36 months after publication (delayed open access model), although not through the Blackwell site. MNRAS also permits self-archiving by authors on personal webpages, in institutional repositories, and on the arXiv astro-ph server. Authors do not assign copyright to the RAS or Blackwell Publishing, but are required to grant an exclusive licence to the article prior to its publication.[2]