Contributions to Æther: A Journal of Strategic Airpower & Spacepower will be original articles, not under consideration for publication elsewhere or previously published, and will explore issues of national and international security relevant to airpower and spacepower. Articles must be submitted in Microsoft Word and fall within the following range: 4,000–6,500 words, including footnotes. Articles, including footnotes, must conform to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-generated submissions are not permitted. If AI is used to generate specific text in an article, it must be used very sparingly, be treated as a quote, and be sourced accordingly, per Chicago Manual of Style guidelines for AI content. If it is used to create a graphic, it must also be sourced. Violators will be ineligible for future publication consideration. 

Process

1. Authors must first submit an abstract to aether-journal@au.af.edu for review by the editors.

An abstract of no more than 150 words must explicitly include these elements:

A. Thesis in one or two sentences
B. Research approach
C. How the article differs from other work on the same subject (what is new?)
D. Why it is relevant to the Department of the Air Force and senior Department of Defense and civilian national security decisionmakers?

The editors will review the submitted abstract and decide whether to decline it or request the article for review. If the editors request the article:

2. The editors will review the article and decide whether to decline it or to send it for peer review. If the editors decide to send the article for peer review:

3. The editors will review the results of the (2) double-blind peer reviews and decide whether to decline it, send it back to the author(s) for revision and resubmission, accept pending author(s) revisions, or accept for publication as written.

In the case of “revise and resubmit,” the editors will review author(s) revisions to determine if the author(s) sufficiently addressed the concerns of the peer reviews. The editors will then decide to decline or accept the article for publication, or, in some cases, send it for another peer review. In the case of “accept pending revisions,” the editors will review author(s) revisions to determine if those revisions addressed the editors’ concerns, and if so, will accept the article for publication.

4. Once an article has been accepted for publication, the article will undergo a security review, mechanical edit, fact check, and substantive/developmental edit. The results of Team Æther edits will be returned to the author(s) for review, with a deadline for that review.

5. Once the article has been returned to the journal, the article will be formatted for the journal and the author(s) will have the opportunity to review the proof one final time prior to publication. PLEASE NOTE: Content changes will not be allowed during the review of the proof. The review is to ensure accuracy of information only.

6. After the author reviews the proof and returns it, the article will undergo a final round of detailed copyediting to correct any remaining punctuation and grammar errors.

At any point in the review process an article can be accepted for publication, returned for revision, or declined. The editor determines final disposition of any submission. Articles accepted for publication are scheduled for a specific Æther edition or placed in reserve for use in a subsequent edition.

Acceptance Requirements. Once your article is accepted for publication, you will be required to sign an author permission form granting Æther nonexclusive rights to publish your submission in the public domain.

Æther reserves the right to make last-minute determinations regarding the issue in which the article will feature but guarantees that the article, upon acceptance, will run in a print version of the quarterly journal. In cases of significant delays between acceptance and publication, the author(s) will have an opportunity to update text and references.

References
Use thorough footnotes formatted according to Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition (include URLs, page numbers, day, month, year if applicable).

Do NOT use ibid., op. cit., or loc. cit.

Place only one note number at the end of a sentence. Do not place footnote references midsentence.

The footnote itself may include multiple references separated by a semicolon, but no more than four.

Do not include bibliographies or lists of works referenced.

Graphics
Graphics (e.g., US government figures, tables, photos) are limited to 2 and must add to the text rather than replicate what is in the text.

Authors must obtain written permission from the owner to use any graphic not in the public domain (e.g., US government) or of their own creation. It is insufficient to cite the source of the graphic (copyright on graphics is different in fair use than copyright on written material). Authors may include their original graphics. 

PowerPoint slides or graphics used in PowerPoint presentations are discouraged.

Authors must provide a high-resolution file for any graphic submitted.

1. DPI: ALL images for digital or print must be 300 DPI or better
2. QUALITY: To maintain 508 Compliance, minimum text/font sizes are 8pt. on graphics. Illustrator may need to change color values, shades, and/or tints of certain image to retain compliance for visually impaired viewers.

Authors must provide an alternative (alt) text of no more than 150 characters (not words) describing any graphics. (This is for 508 compliance purposes.) The alt text should explain the graphic, not repeat the caption or title; the purpose is to tell someone unable to see the figure why it is important to the text. Do not start with “Image/Picture/Graphic of. . . .” The screen reader will say “Image,” and then it will read your alt text.

To check the status of your submission or if you have questions concerning our article review and publication process, please contact us at aether-journal@au.af.edu.

*Please note: the inbox with a .mil extension is not monitored. Emails must be sent to the email address with the .edu extension. 

If your submission contains human subject research (interviews, surveys, etc.), you must obtain a formal institutional review board (IRB) review of your submission indicating compliance or an exemption. If you are an active duty independent researcher, we recommend reaching out to your most recent Air University or other military PME program/school for their IRB POC. More information about federal regulations protecting human subject research can be found here: https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/45-cfr-46/revised-common-rule-regulatory-text/index.html.