---
author:
- Ethan Vishniac
- Chris Lintott
- 'Greg J. Schwarz'
- August Muench
title: 'An example of a Research Note of the American Astronomical Society (RNAAS)'
---

*Research Notes of the [American Astronomical Society](https://aas.org)* ([RNAAS](http://rnaas.aas.org)) is a publication in the AAS portfolio (alongside ApJ, AJ, ApJ Supplements, and ApJ Letters) through which authors can promptly and briefly share materials of interest with the astronomical community in a form that will be searchable via ADS and permanently archived.

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.

Submissions to RNAAS should be brief communications - 1,000 words or fewer [^1], and no more than a single figure (e.g. Figure \[fig:1\]) or table (but not both) - and should be written in a style similar to that of a traditional journal article, including references, where appropriate, but not including an abstract.

Unlike the other journals in the AAS portfolio, RNAAS publications are not peer reviewed; they are, however, reviewed by an editor for appropriateness and format before publication. If accepted, RNAAS submissions are typically published 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.

Articles can be submitted in [LaTeX]{} (preferably with the new “RNAAS” style option in AASTeX v6.2), MS/Word, or via the direct submission in the [Authorea](http://www.authorea.com) or [Overleaf](http://www.overleaf.com) online collaborative editors.

Authors are expected to follow the AAS’s ethics [@2006ApJ...652..847K], including guidance on plagiarism [@2012AAS...21920404V].

![Top page of the AAS Journals’ website, <http://journals.aas.org>, on October 15, 2017. Each RNAAS manuscript is only allowed one figure or table (but not both). Including the [data behind the figure](http://journals.aas.org//authors/data.html#DbF) in a Note is encouraged, and the data will be provided as a link in the published Note.\[fig:1\]](aas.pdf)

Acknowledge people, facilities, and software here but remember that this counts against your 1000 word limit.

Kennicutt, R. C., Jr., Vishniac, E., & Sneden, C. 2006, , 652, 847

Kurtz, M. J., Eichhorn, G., Accomazzi, A., et al. 2000, , 143, 41

Vishniac, E. T. 2012, American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts \#219, 219, 204.04

[^1]: An easy way to count the number of words in a Research Note is to use the `texcount` utility installed with most [LaTeX]{} installations. The call `texcount -incbib -v3 rnaas.tex`) gives 57 words in the front matter and 493 words in the text/references/captions of this template. Another option is by copying the words into MS/Word, and using “Word Count” under the Tool tab.
