--- name: astronomy-and-astrophysics description: Use when targeting Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) or deciding whether an astronomy manuscript fits this European flagship published by EDP Sciences. Encodes the journal's fit, framing, method-and-evidence bar, house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics. --- # Astronomy & Astrophysics (astronomy-and-astrophysics) ## Journal positioning A&A is published by EDP Sciences on behalf of a consortium of mostly European countries and is the European flagship journal covering all of astronomy and astrophysics. Its defining character is comprehensive scope paired with high observational and methodological rigor: A&A publishes the full range of the field — stellar physics, the interstellar medium, galaxies, cosmology, the Sun and heliosphere, planets and exoplanets, and instrumentation — and is especially strong on observational surveys, data-rich analyses, and instrument/method papers. It maintains a dedicated Letters section for urgent, significant short results alongside full-length research articles. A&A rewards careful, reproducible analysis with complete description of data reduction, calibration, and uncertainties; it is a working journal of record for the community, not a venue that prioritizes headline novelty over completeness. Readership is the international astronomy community, with a strong European base. This skill is a **fit / venue-selection / re-framing** tool. It does not replace the journal's current official submission guidelines. Before submitting, re-check the live author instructions on the A&A/EDP Sciences site. ## When to trigger - The author names A&A as the target venue for a complete astronomy or astrophysics research article or a Letter. - A manuscript is an observational survey, instrumentation/method paper, or data-driven astrophysical analysis and the author is choosing between A&A, The Astrophysical Journal, The Astronomical Journal, and MNRAS. - A short, time-critical but significant result needs the A&A Letters section. - The author needs A&A's data-reduction-documentation norms, language-editing expectations, and section conventions, plus desk-reject criteria, before submission. ## Scope & topic fit - Stellar physics: stellar structure and evolution, atmospheres, spectroscopy, asteroseismology, variable and binary stars, and stellar populations. - Interstellar medium and star formation: molecular clouds, dust, astrochemistry, protostars, and feedback processes. - Galaxies and cosmology: galaxy formation and evolution, AGN, large-scale structure, the high-redshift universe, and cosmological parameter analyses. - The Sun, heliosphere, and solar-stellar connection: solar physics, magnetism, and space weather drivers. - Planetary systems and exoplanets: detection, characterization, atmospheres, dynamics, and solar-system bodies. - Instrumentation, numerical methods, catalogs, and data-reduction techniques that enable the above — A&A explicitly welcomes instrument and method papers. ## Method & evidence bar - Data reduction, calibration, and analysis must be documented completely enough to reproduce; this is a central A&A referee expectation. - Uncertainties must be propagated and reported rigorously; statistical methods must be appropriate and justified, with systematics discussed explicitly. - Observational claims must account for selection effects, completeness, and instrumental systematics; survey papers must define samples precisely. - Numerical and modeling results must specify codes, parameters, and convergence sufficiently for reproduction. - New results should be placed against existing measurements and theoretical expectations, with quantitative comparison rather than qualitative assertion. - Data products, catalogs, and code should be made available (e.g., via the CDS/VizieR for tables, or a public repository); A&A has long-standing data-archiving links with the CDS. ## Structure & house style - A&A uses the `aa` LaTeX class (EDP Sciences `aa.cls`); manuscripts follow standard structure (Introduction, Observations/Data, Methods/Analysis, Results, Discussion, Conclusions) with appendices for technical detail. - Full-length articles have no strict hard length cap but should be appropriately concise; Letters are short, with their own length limit and a fast-track significance bar. - Clear, correct scientific English is expected; A&A provides language-editing services and may require editing where needed. - Tables intended for the community should be submitted in machine-readable form and are archived at the CDS; large tables go to the CDS rather than the body text. - Figures must be quantitatively clear with labeled axes and uncertainties; color and multi-panel figures are standard. - References follow the A&A/EDP style; the abstract is structured into Context, Aims, Methods, and Results. ## Official-submission checklist - Before giving submission-ready advice, read `../../resources/source-basis.md` and `../../resources/official-source-map.md`; start from the official source anchors for this journal family, then cite the current journal-specific page you checked. - Search the live site for "Astronomy & Astrophysics author guidelines" / "A&A instructions for authors" and follow the current EDP Sciences version. - Re-check the `aa.cls` LaTeX class and current formatting, the structured-abstract requirement, and Letters length limits. - Re-check CDS/VizieR table-submission and data-archiving requirements; confirm accepted repositories for data and code. - Re-check language-editing, open-access/charge options, competing-interests, and AI-use disclosure; confirm preprint (arXiv) policy. - If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions win. ## Pre-submission self-check - [ ] One sentence — the astronomical result of this paper and how it advances the field. - [ ] Data reduction, calibration, and uncertainties are documented completely enough to reproduce the analysis. - [ ] Selection effects, completeness, and systematics are addressed; samples and methods are precisely defined. - [ ] The manuscript uses the `aa.cls` class with a structured (Context/Aims/Methods/Results) abstract. - [ ] Machine-readable tables are prepared for the CDS; data and code availability is arranged. - [ ] The paper is positioned against recent A&A / ApJ / MNRAS measurements and models on this question. ## Common desk-reject triggers - An analysis with incompletely described data reduction, missing uncertainties, or unaddressed systematics. - A survey or catalog paper with an ill-defined sample, ignored selection effects, or no completeness assessment. - A result presented without quantitative comparison to existing measurements or theory. - A Letter that does not meet the urgency-and-significance bar or exceeds the Letters length limit. - Manuscript English so unclear that the scientific content cannot be assessed, with no use of available language editing. ## Re-routing decision - AAS-style framing or a US-community readership better matched to the ApJ family: `the-astrophysical-journal`. - Observationally broad survey, catalog, solar-system, or exoplanet data paper emphasizing the data product: `the-astronomical-journal`. - RAS-community framing, theory-heavy or simulation-driven astrophysics suited to the RAS journals: `monthly-notices-of-the-royal-astronomical-society`. - High-impact, broad-audience astronomy result for a Nature-family venue: `nature-astronomy`. ## Output format ```text [Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason) [Target] Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) [Topic tags] <2–3 closest topics> [Method/evidence] [Top risk] [Official items to re-check] [Re-route suggestion] ```