Journal Author

When preparing your manuscript, there are several resources we provide to assist in this process. You can find templates and guidelines to help prepare the pieces of your manuscript. See the list of resources below.

• Manuscript Template
• Manuscript Template (LaTex)*
• Journal Page Limits and Word Count Guidelines 
• Manuscript Titles, Authorship, and Footnotes
• Nomenclature Guidelines
• Guidelines for Mathematics"
• Guidelines for Figures and Tables
• Formatting Lists in Your Manuscript
• Reference Style and Format
• Preparation of an Abstract
• Preparation of a Biography
• Punctuation, Spelling, and Style

*Tips for LaTex authors. For additional assistance, contact Overleaf.

Language Editing Services

Submitted manuscripts are required to meet international standards for English language to be considered for publication. If you would like to improve the quality of your written English we recommend the language editing services provided by our external partner Charlesworth Author Services. Improving the clarity of your manuscript will help editors and reviewers fully understand your research. 

The Charlesworth Author Services has a long history in providing language editing and proofing to academic authors. To access this third-party service, please visit the following link https://www.cwauthors.com?rcode=AIAA).

*Please note that sending your manuscript for language editing does not imply or guarantee that it will be accepted for publication by AIAA.

Using supplemental materials

Authors are encouraged to provide supplemental material files to enhance the content of their articles submitted to AIAA journals. These supplemental files will be available to online subscribers of each journal. Multiple files can accompany an article, to include data sets; extensive tables; multimedia such as animation, sound, or video files; and other additional supporting material. Although the supplemental files must be relevant to the journal article, they are intended only to support the primary content presented in the article, which must be self-contained and stand on its own. Acceptance for publication will be based solely on the content of the article.  

• Guidelines for Supplemental Materials
• Sample README File for Supplemental Materials

Using material reprinted from another source

If you intend to reprint tables, figures, or portions of text from another source, you are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner. All authors attest to the fact that no copyright-infringing material is included in their articles by signing AIAA’s No-Infringement Statement as part of the Copyright Clearance and Release form. If the previously published work is your own, and you have transferred the copyright to another person or entity, these rules still apply. Also note that copyright law grants the owner of any material control over how a work is reused or modified; if you wish to alter or adapt a previously published piece of artwork, for example, you may still need permission from the copyright owner.

Be advised that material taken from the Internet is subject to copyright regulation, as is the use of Clip Art that is available with many popular software programs. Material that is in the public domain also must be appropriately cited even when permission to use is not required. Remember that out-of-print material is not necessarily in the public domain, and that a work may be subject to foreign copyright law even if no protection exists in the United States.

• How to Request Permission to Reprint from AIAA
• Sample Permission Request form for Other Publishers

Review your manuscript to ensure that it meets the following basic requirements. Be mindful of length requirements and other guidelines related to specific article types. The text should be as brief and concise as proper presentation of the ideas will allow. Manuscripts must be in English (American spelling), 10-point type, double-spaced, and single-column.

• Each full-length paper must have a summary-type abstract of 100 to 200 (maximum) words in one paragraph, without numerical references, acronyms, or abbreviations. The abstract indicates the subjects dealt with in the paper and states the objectives of the investigation.
• The manuscript title is concise (maximum of 12 words), in upper- and lower-case letters, without the use of acronyms or abbreviations.
• Listed authors are limited to those who have made significant contributions to the article. The submitting author should ensure that contact information for all coauthors is accurate. All authors will receive a system email from ScholarOne asking for verification of their contributions to the work, and the manuscript submission will not be complete until confirmation from all authors is received. 
  
• The author’s full name appears below the title, with any co-author names all on the same line if they share the same affiliation and presenting them together will not disrupt the proper order of author names. The affiliation is the line below the author name(s), comprising the company or institution name, city, state, and ZIP code, and also the country name for authors outside the United States.
• Footnotes display author job titles and departments on the first page of each manuscript and use the symbols *, †, ‡, §,¶, **, ††, etc. Designating one or more authors as a “corresponding author” is appropriate in the footnotes, with contact email addresses included. AIAA membership status also may be included when applicable. The use of footnotes elsewhere in the manuscript is discouraged.
• Papers with many symbols will benefit from a nomenclature that defines all symbols with units, to be inserted between the abstract and the introduction. Acronyms should be defined in the text, not in the nomenclature.
• An introduction that states the purpose of the work and its significance relative to the prior literature is required.
• Equations are numbered sequentially and not by section. Math symbols and equations are not images (MathType or other interactive equation-editing software has been used for creating equations in the manuscript). Metric or dual systems of units (metric and English) are used, whenever possible. Periods are not used at the ends of displayed equations.
• References are introduced in numerical order in the text (not just by author name); classified or export-restricted references, personal/private communications, and websites are not included in the reference list, and all reference elements follow AIAA format guidelines.
• Figures and tables are numbered consecutively and cited in the text; they are designed based on AIAA format guidelines, with concise captions and headings.
• Conclusions provide a detailed discussion of study findings. Do not introduce concepts not presented in text; do not refer to other work.
• List funding sources and grant numbers in the submission field provided in ScholarOne; please double check this information for accuracy. Acknowledgments of financial support or significant contributions to the research also can be in a separate paragraph at the end of the manuscript preceding the reference list. Names of institutions and individuals are provided in full without the use of abbreviations or nicknames.  
• Optional supplemental material files are relevant to the article and entirely self-contained; acceptance for publication will be based solely on the content of the article.
• Check your paper for clarity of language and proper use of grammar; non-English speakers should have a native speaker review their work. The Charlesworth Author Services has a long history in providing language editing and proofing to academic authors. To access this third-party service, please visit the following link https://www.cwauthors.com?rcode=AIAA). 

In most cases, AIAA conference papers do not need to be reformatted before being submitted to a journal so long as they are double-spaced. Include conference presentation information with your submission, including the conference paper number.

Submit papers to the AIAA journals on the AIAA ScholarOne Manuscripts portal. 

List research funding sources and grant numbers for all authors in the submission fields provided in ScholarOne. Funding sources can be grants from outside agencies or organizations, or if you are employed by a U.S. government agency that directly funds your research, then your employer also should be recognized as a funding agency. 

All authors (including the corresponding author) will receive an automated system email from ScholarOne asking for verification of their contributions to the work. The manuscript submission will not be complete until confirmation from all authors is received. 

To check the status of a paper submitted using ScholarOne Manuscripts log in to the AIAA ScholarOne Manuscript site and select the Author Center. You will find a list of queues for each paper status, with a number indicating how many of your papers are in the author queue. By clicking in the name of the queue, you can see all of your papers with that status.

Manuscript Review

Each manuscript is initially evaluated by the journal Editor-in-Chief and then assigned to an Associate Editor who provides an additional evaluation of the manuscript and assigns the paper to two or more reviewers in the field for confidential review. The review process is designed both to encourage the reviewer’s objectivity and to ensure the thoroughness of his or her evaluation. Technical content, importance to the field, style and clarity, including mastery of the English language, and completeness of the manuscript all are rated by the reviewer. The reviewer is asked also for advice concerning the specific merits and/or deficiencies of the manuscript. However, the decision to publish, to require revision before publication, or to reject for reasons cited lies first with the Associate Editor and ultimately with the Editor-in-Chief. It may take several weeks or several months after receipt of the manuscript to accomplish the manuscript evaluation and review and any subsequent revisions requested of the author.

A full description of AIAA’s formal acceptance procedures can be found here.  

Acceptance and Publication

Accepted articles are edited to ensure AIAA format and style, and page proofs are returned to corresponding authors for input and approval. Authors should respond to queries and carefully proofread their proofs to catch inadvertent errors and to ensure that all equations are displaying correctly. Once the feedback of authors is incorporated, articles are prepared for online publication as Articles in Advance. Articles are also scheduled for publication in forthcoming numbered issues. Depending upon the number of articles awaiting publication in an issue and the projected size of issues, this may require that articles be scheduled several issues ahead. When feasible, articles will be published in the order of their original receipt.

Electronic complimentary copies of published articles are available to authors upon publication. You will receive an automatic email from ARC granting access once your article is published online.

AIAA has partnered with Kudos to help our authors bring their work to the attention of their peers, the media, and broader audiences both in and outside the aerospace community.   

Find out how to promote your work with Kudos!