Publication Guide
AAAS - the American Association for the Advancement of Science - is the world's largest general scientific society, founded in 1848 and headquartered in Washington DC. As a non-profit publisher it runs a deliberately small, highly selective portfolio: six core Science family journals, anchored by Science (founded 1880), plus the Science Partner Journals (SPJ) program of 14 fully open-access titles produced with research institutions and funders worldwide.
Publishing with AAAS is a different proposition from submitting to a large commercial house. There is no mega-journal cascade of thousands of titles; instead you are choosing between one of the most selective multidisciplinary journals in the world, its subject-focused sister titles, a premium gold-OA venue in Science Advances, or an SPJ title in your subfield. This guide covers how to pick among them, what each route costs, how peer review works, and how to submit.
Which AAAS journal fits your paper?
| You're most likely to... | Choose this route |
|---|---|
| Have a finding of broad significance across the sciences | Science - the flagship. Extremely selective, subscription-based (no APC), read by the widest general-science audience. |
| Want gold open access with Science-family editorial standards | Science Advances - AAAS's fully open-access multidisciplinary journal (launched 2015). Broader scope than Science; APC around $5,450 (2026). |
| Work in translational or clinical research | Science Translational Medicine - subscription title focused on bench-to-bedside medicine. |
| Work in immunology, cell signaling, or robotics | Science Immunology, Science Signaling, or Science Robotics - subject-focused subscription titles with Science-family review standards. |
| Want an OA venue in a specific subfield | Science Partner Journals - 14 editorially independent, fully-OA titles (e.g., Research, Health Data Science, Ultrafast Science) co-published with partner institutions. |
What AAAS actually publishes
- Science - the flagship weekly, publishing original research, reviews, and news across all disciplines since 1880. It has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal.
- Science Advances - the gold open-access multidisciplinary journal, launched 2015, now one of the largest selective OA venues.
- Science Translational Medicine, Science Immunology, Science Signaling, Science Robotics - subject-focused subscription titles.
- Science Partner Journals - 14 fully open-access titles launched from late 2017 onward, each run by an editorially independent partner organization under the SPJ program.
Open access and APCs
AAAS runs three OA routes; note that the five subscription Science family journals do not offer a paid hybrid option - their compliance route is green OA.
| Route | What it covers | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Gold OA - Science Advances | CC BY or CC BY-NC license, immediate OA | ~$5,450 APC (2026 rate, charged at submission-date pricing); AAAS member and some institutional discounts apply |
| Gold OA - Science Partner Journals | Fully-OA titles, CC BY | APC varies by title; several are sponsored by the partner institution |
| Green OA - subscription titles | Accepted manuscript in any repository | $0 - immediately on publication (zero embargo since January 2023), satisfying Plan S and US federal public-access policies |
Science Advances waives APCs for authors from low-income countries and authors without institutional funding; the waiver request is handled at submission and does not affect editorial decisions. Always check the journal's licensing-and-charges page for the current rate.
Peer review
- Model: single-anonymized review across the Science family; Science also uses cross-review, where reviewers see each other's comments.
- Selectivity: Science accepts well under 10% of submissions; most rejections happen at the editorial-screening stage within about 1-2 weeks.
- Editorial rigor: AAAS journals are widely treated as a gold standard for editorial and statistical scrutiny; expect requests for underlying data and code.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. Match scope and OA needs using the decision table above.
- Read the information for authors. Science uses a structured abstract for Research Articles and strict length limits (main text around 2,500 words for most formats).
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the Science family template on SciSpace; references use Science's superscript-numbered style. ORCID is required for first and corresponding authors.
- Submit via CTS. All Science family journals use AAAS's proprietary Content Tracking System at cts.science.org; SPJ titles use their own portals.
- Track and respond. Decisions arrive by email; status is visible in CTS throughout review.
Ethics and integrity
AAAS is a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM. The Science family enforces strong data- and materials-availability requirements: authors must make data and code underlying the conclusions available, and availability statements are mandatory. Retractions and corrections follow COPE-aligned procedures, handled by the journals' professional editorial staff.
