Aims, Scope and Objectives
The Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica Serie de Conferencias (RMxAC) is a publication dedicated to editing the proceedings of high-level astronomical symposia held in Mexico and other countries across the American continent. RMxAC is published by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) through the Institute of Astronomy. It is a digital, open access publication with a global reach, offered free of charge.
The objective of RMxAC is to publish the proceedings of high-level astronomical symposia that take place in Mexico and in other countries throughout the continent. Contributions typically include invited and contributed talks, posters, and summary reports arising from these scientific meetings.
General Information
The Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica Serie de Conferencias (RMxAC) is not a periodical publication; rather, it responds to requests to record the scientific contributions presented at various meetings of interest. In practice, during the 31 years of RMxAC's existence, 60 issues have been published, averaging two issues per year.
RMxAC is edited by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510 Mexico City, through the Institute of Astronomy (Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Col. Copilco, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico).
RMxAC holds the Exclusive Use Right Reservation No. 04-2016-061315292600-203, and the ISSN for the series is pending, both granted by the National Institute of Copyright. The responsible editor is Silvia Torres Peimbert.
Editorial Model
Since its foundation, RMxAC has focused on disseminating the proceedings of astronomical congresses across the continent. Presentations from scientific meetings in other parts of the world have also been published, with the sole requirement being that they are of astronomical interest and high scientific quality. The acceptance of proceedings from a specific conference depends on the Editor-in-Chief, advised by the editorial board of the Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, and taking into account the available human resources to handle the request.
Background
In 1995, the Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Serie de Conferencias was founded as a space dedicated exclusively to publishing proceedings of astronomical meetings. From 1977 to 1994, these proceedings were communicated as special volumes of the Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. During this initial period, the proceedings of thirteen astronomical symposia were published. However, the growing demand for such publications led to the creation of RMxAC as an independent series.
RMxAC is currently hosted on its own editorial platform at https://astronomia.unam.mx/journals/rmxac/. This platform is compatible with the Open Journal Systems digital publishing software.
Free and Open Access
Since its foundation, RMxAC has been completely free and open access. Initially, the journal was printed and distributed at no cost to the libraries of organizations conducting astronomical research in at least 50 countries. Since 2000, the complete collection (currently consisting of 60 volumes) has been available in a digital, open access format, free to consult or download, in our archive.
The open access modality means that all its content is freely accessible at no cost to the authors or their institutions. All platform users are authorized to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal (or the figures and tables contained therein) without prior permission from the editorial group or authorship groups, in accordance with the BOAI (Budapest Open Access Initiative) definition of Open Access. The reuse of works may be done for non-commercial purposes, always acknowledging authorship and indicating the original source.
Periodicity Statement
Due to the nature of astronomical conferences, this publication is not periodical; it responds to the demand from symposia organizers. From 1995 to 2025, 59 volumes have been published, representing 1.9 volumes per year.
Open Science Practices
Since its foundation, all RMxAC articles have been distributed free of charge. The printed version was sent, at no cost, to over 70 institutions in Mexico and nearly 200 institutions worldwide where professional astronomy is cultivated. Since 2000, the open access digital version has been incorporated.
In 2020, the printed version was discontinued, leaving only the digital version. Thus, the RMxAC web platform provides free and open access to all volumes (60) and all individual articles (1245) from 1995 to the present.
Currently, each article is assigned a DOI preceded by the words OPEN ACCESS on the third line of each article's header, which is registered with the DOI organization via the link https://www.doi.org/, allowing the published article to be accessed from anywhere.
Currently, there is no mandatory requirement for published articles to include data or code access information.
Originality and Quality
RMxAC publishes original research reviews in astronomy and astrophysics. The quality of the works is considered carefully and strictly. Upon reviewing new contributions, members of the Special Edition Group may suggest rejecting works that do not meet minimum criteria for content, accuracy, and quality. In the case of peer-reviewed volumes, contributions undergo strict review; reviewers are always selected from a list of specialists in the topic of each contribution, and they provide detailed reports including recommendations and corrections. Authors must respond to referee reports point by point and provide corrected versions of the articles with clear indications of changes to the main text, as well as figures, tables, and auxiliary materials. This process ensures both the originality and quality of the articles published by RMxAC.
Multilingualism
RMxAC publishes scientific articles solely in English, aiming to achieve global visibility. Since its early stages in 1995, every extended article features an abstract in English along with its corresponding summary in Spanish, a characteristic that identifies its Latin American origin.
The information on the RMxAC web platform can be accessed in English or Spanish. The former because it is the common language for science globally, and the latter because it is our language, as well as that of the broad group of colleagues in the field in Latin America and Spain.
Title, Abstract, and Keywords
Contributions are published in three categories: extended texts, 1 or 2-page texts, and abstracts.
Extended texts include the title, list of authors and their institutional affiliations, list of keywords, abstract in English and summary in Spanish; as well as the name and email of the corresponding contact person.
The 1 or 2-page texts include the title, list of authors and their institutional affiliations; as well as the name and email of the corresponding contact person.
Abstracts include the title, list of authors and their institutional affiliations, as well as the name and email of the corresponding contact person.
Index / Table of Contents
RMxAC publishes an index or table of contents for each published issue, which includes a cover with a figure and caption selected by the Editorial Board from one of the issue's articles. The cover also includes the details of the corresponding issue: Volume, Issue, publication date, ISSN, and DOI. A credits page is also included with the names of the Editorial Board members, electronic access details, and an informative banner with RMxAC data. On the RMxAC web platform, there is a button to access the full content of each issue in PDF format, and an index listing individual articles, including authorship group, title, pages, and DOI, as well as a button to access the content of each article in PDF format.
Contact
Email: rmaa@astro.unam.mx
Address: Instituto de Astronomía UNAM, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico City
Phone: (+52) 55 5622 3946