Journal profile · Astronomy & Astrophysics
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
ISSN 0004-6264 · eISSN 2053-051X · Oxford University Press · JAPAN · Bimonthly · Founded 1949
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan: CAS Zone 4 · Physics & Astronomy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.63; hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,398; review about 84 days (submission to final decision, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 159 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan is published by Oxford University Press and is in Zone 4 of Physics & Astronomy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies and Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations, together about 35.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Astronomy and Astrophysics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (PASJ) publishes the results of original research in all aspects of astronomy, astrophysics, and fields closely related to them. All past issues including the very first issue from 1949 are now digitally accessible. Journal metrics Citation metrics Clarivate 2025 Impact Factor 2.7 2025 5 Year Impact Factor 2.5 Astronomy & Astrophysics (Rank by Impact Factor) 35/86 2025 Cited Half-Life 9.9 years 2025 Immediacy Index 1.6 2025 Eigenfactor Score 0.00376 2025 Article Influence Score 0.841 Scopus 2025 CiteScore 5.4 Astronomy And Astrophysics (Rank by CiteScore) 29/97 Space And Planetary Science (Rank by CiteScore) 35/105 2025 Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 0.788 Readership 2025 Full Text Usage 200,946 Peer Review and Production 2025 Median days from submission to first decision 31 days 2025 Median days from submission to final decision 84 days About metrics Contact Information General enquires to the journal (PASJ Editorial Office) office@pasj.asj.or.jp Production pasj@oup.com Subscriptions Personal and Institutional subscriptions can be purchased online. Disclaimer Statements of fact and opinion in the articles in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan are those of the respective authors and contributors and not of the Journal, Astronomical Society of Japan, or Oxford University Press, unless otherwise expressly indicated. Neither Oxford University Press, Astronomical Society of Japan, nor the Journal make any representation, express or implied, in respect of the accuracy of the material in the Journal and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Readers should make their own evaluation as to the appropriateness or otherwise of the information included.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Astronomy & Astrophysics
Editor-in-chief Masaki AndoPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Stellar, planetary, and galactic studiesPhysics and Astronomy13%
- Astrophysics and Star Formation StudiesPhysics and Astronomy11.8%
- Astrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsPhysics and Astronomy10.9%
- Astronomy and Astrophysical ResearchPhysics and Astronomy10.3%
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaPhysics and Astronomy7.7%
- Astro and Planetary SciencePhysics and Astronomy6.2%
- Gamma-ray bursts and supernovaePhysics and Astronomy6.2%
- Astrophysics and Cosmic PhenomenaPhysics and Astronomy6.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Physics & Astronomy Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Astronomy & Astrophysics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Physics & Astronomy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Astronomy & Astrophysics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Physics & Astronomy Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Astronomy & Astrophysics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 2.63LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.79LetPub ·
- h-index
- 87LetPub ·
- h-index
- 135OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,750OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.11OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 33.9%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 145LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 200,946Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 6,996 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 124 | 77 | 52 |
| 2025 | 159 | 94 | 555 |
| 2024 | 120 | 62 | 645 |
| 2023 | 90 | 62 | 575 |
| 2022 | 102 | 81 | 889 |
| 2021 | 137 | 106 | 1,527 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 4 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 31 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to final decision 2025
- 84 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single-anonymous peer reviewPublisher website · model-extracted
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | JPY 358,550 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | JPY 3,000 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- JPY 3,000
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Keywords
- 3–5
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Self-archiving
- Authorship Authorship
All authors listed on the manuscript should have contributed significantly to the experimental design, its implementation, or analysis and interpretation of the data. All authors should have been involved in the writing of the manuscript at draft and any revision stages, and have read and approved the final version. Anyone who made major contributions to the writing of the manuscript should be lis…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of interest
At the point of submission, each author should reveal any financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the work reported or the conclusions, implications, or opinions stated – including pertinent commercial or other sources of funding for the individual author(s) or for the associated department(s) or organization(s), personal…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Availability of Data and Materials
Where ethically feasible, PASJ strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. Information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
Authors should observe high standards with respect to publication ethics as set out by the Commission on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification or fabrication of data, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the authors’ own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of the work are all unacceptable practices. Any cases of ethical misconduct are treated very seriously and will be …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and Licence
It is a condition of publication for PASJ that authors grant an exclusive license to the Journal, published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Astronomical Society of Japan. This ensures that all of the necessary rights needed for publication of the article, including provision for any requests from third parties to reproduce content from the journals, are in place and are handled efficie…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
PASJ offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution. Should you wish to publish your article open access, you should select your…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Author Self-Archiving/Public Access Policy
For information about this journal's policy, please visit our Author Self-Archiving policy page. For PhD candidates at universities in Japan: Authors publishing all or part of their PhD thesis in PASJ may deposit the Accepted Manuscript PDF of the portion of their thesis published in the journal in the awarding institution's repository in accordance with academic degree regulations, but must stipu…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Country or region
- JAPAN
- Language
- Multi-Language
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1949
- ISSN
- 0004-6264
- Electronic ISSN
- 2053-051X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 78, Issue 4 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
What CAS zone is Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan is in Zone 4 of Physics & Astronomy, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Astronomy & Astrophysics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.63; CiteScore 5.4, h-index 135.
How long does peer review take at Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan?
The publisher reports about 84 days (submission to final decision); authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Keywords: 3–5; Templates: LaTeX and Word; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Which databases index Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan open access, and what is the APC?
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,398.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .