Mars Settlement - Journal of Mars Exploration and Settlement welcomes original, rigorous, and scientifically significant contributions investigating the exploration of Mars, the establishment of permanent human settlements beyond Earth, and the broader futures of humanity in space.
The journal is inherently interdisciplinary and provides a scholarly forum for research connecting planetary science, aerospace engineering, astrobiology, space medicine, human physiology and psychology, resource utilization, settlement architecture and infrastructure, space law and governance, economics, ethics, human factors, robotics, artificial intelligence, Earth-analog studies, and related fields.
MARS SETTLEMENT is particularly interested in research examining how human presence on Mars may be enabled, sustained, expanded, and governed, as well as research investigating the long-term consequences of off-world settlement for human biology, society, culture, and civilization. The journal also welcomes studies on Earth-based analog environments, simulation missions, and preparatory technologies and protocols.
The journal does not assume that space settlement necessarily represents unqualified progress. Technological and exploratory advances may produce new knowledge, capabilities, and opportunities, but they may also produce dependency, inequality, ecological disruption, psychological harm, social conflict, governance failures, or other unintended consequences. Research addressing these possibilities is welcomed when supported by rigorous scientific reasoning or empirical evidence.
Article Processing Charges (APCs)
AnKa Publisher journals charge Article Processing Charges (APCs) but do not charge submission fees. This policy benefits authors, as payments are only required once a manuscript has been accepted for publication. Book reviews, commentaries, and invited articles are fully exempt from APCs. In addition, APCs are not charged for articles authored by members of the editorial board.
AnKa Publisher journals are fully Open Access, meaning all published articles are freely available online without subscription or pay-per-view fees. To support the costs of maintaining the publication infrastructure, managing the journals, and overseeing the peer-review and editorial processes, an APC is charged upon acceptance of a manuscript. These fees are typically covered by the author's institution or research funding. The journals also offer discounted APC rates for authors from low- and middle-income countries. For more information, please visit the journal's APC policy page.
1. Submission of Manuscripts – Preparation of Articles
Authors are strongly encouraged to carefully follow the guidelines outlined in this document when preparing the introduction section of their manuscripts.
A well-structured introduction should clearly establish the research context, identify a specific gap in the literature, and explicitly state the contribution of the study. Adherence to these guidelines will enhance the clarity, coherence, and academic quality of submissions and is essential for maintaining the standards of the journal.
All articles submitted to MARS SETTLEMENT must be prepared using the template provided below. Articles not using this template will not be accepted for the review stage. Please also use this template file when uploading your manuscript to the online submission system.
DOWNLOAD MARS SETTLEMENT ARTICLE TEMPLATE
Articles should be comprehensive, fully documented reports of original research. They should be concise but with complete results and conclusions. Authors are encouraged to take advantage of the Web features available (including 3D animations, video, and sound).
Manuscripts should generally be divided into the following sections: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods, Results and discussion, Conclusion and outlook, Acknowledgments, Abbreviations list, References. The structure may be adapted depending on the article type.
2. Types of Articles
MARS SETTLEMENT accepts several types of scholarly contributions. The structure and length of a manuscript should be appropriate to its article type.
Original Research Articles
Original Research Articles present novel empirical, experimental, computational, clinical, physiological, psychological, engineering, or interdisciplinary research. They should contain a clearly defined research question or hypothesis, an appropriate methodology, results, and a scientifically supported interpretation of the findings.
Theoretical and Conceptual Articles
These articles develop new theoretical models, conceptual frameworks, interpretations, or approaches to Mars exploration and settlement. They may integrate concepts from multiple disciplines, challenge established assumptions, or propose new frameworks for understanding human expansion into space.
Hypothesis and Theory Articles
These manuscripts present scientifically grounded hypotheses, theoretical propositions, or explanatory models intended to stimulate further empirical investigation. Authors should clearly distinguish established evidence from theoretical inference and, where appropriate, identify testable predictions.
Review Articles
Review Articles provide critical and coherent analyses of established or emerging areas of research. Systematic, scoping, narrative, integrative, and theoretical reviews may be considered. Reviews should synthesize the literature, identify contradictions and limitations, and establish meaningful directions for future research rather than merely summarizing previous publications.
Methods and Methodological Articles
These articles introduce, evaluate, or substantially develop research methods relevant to Mars exploration and settlement, including engineering design, mission architecture, life support systems, habitat construction, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), human performance assessment, robotics, simulation protocols, and interdisciplinary methodologies.
Perspectives
Perspective articles provide scientifically grounded and forward-looking discussions of important developments, unresolved questions, emerging concepts, or future directions in Mars exploration, settlement, and human futures.
Commentaries
Commentaries provide focused scholarly discussion of important scientific, engineering, theoretical, methodological, or policy issues, including discussion of articles previously published in the journal.
Short Communications
Short Communications report concise but significant empirical, engineering, methodological, or conceptual findings that warrant dissemination in a shorter format.
Letters to the Editor
Letters may address scientific, methodological, engineering, policy, or editorial issues relevant to the journal and may comment constructively on previously published work.
3. Article Preparation and Writing Style
All manuscripts must be prepared using the official MARS SETTLEMENT Article Template.
Manuscripts should be written in clear, precise, concise, and professional academic English. Because MARS SETTLEMENT addresses an interdisciplinary scientific and engineering community, authors should write for readers who may not share the terminology or methodological conventions of their particular field.
Specialized terminology should be defined when necessary. Unnecessary jargon, excessive abbreviations, rhetorical language, and unnecessarily complex sentences should be avoided.
Authors should carefully distinguish between established evidence, empirical observation, interpretation, hypothesis, and speculation. This distinction is particularly important for manuscripts concerning human adaptation to space, long-duration spaceflight, closed-loop life support systems, off-world governance, terraforming, planetary protection, and the long-term future of human civilization in space.
Theoretical possibilities should not be presented as established facts. Claims concerning human survivability, habitability, sustainability, psychological resilience, societal evolution, or extraterrestrial intelligence should be supported by appropriate evidence or clearly identified as theoretical propositions.
MARS SETTLEMENT encourages a writing style that is analytical rather than promotional, scientifically cautious rather than speculative, and conceptually ambitious without exceeding the available evidence.
4. General Structure of Articles
The structure of the manuscript should reflect its article type.
Original Research Articles will generally include:
Title → Author Information → Abstract → Keywords → Introduction → Background/Literature Review → Methods → Results → Discussion → Limitations → Conclusion → Acknowledgments → Funding → Conflict of Interest → Data Availability → References
The structure may be adapted when required by the nature of the research. Engineering, computational, physiological, psychological, policy, or mixed-methods studies may require different section arrangements.
Theoretical, conceptual, review, perspective, and hypothesis articles may use a more flexible structure, provided that the argument develops logically and the major sections are clearly identified.
5. Title
The title should be concise, informative, and accurately represent the central subject and contribution of the manuscript.
Authors should avoid unnecessarily long titles, unexplained abbreviations, vague terminology, and claims that exceed the evidence presented.
Because titles are used for indexing and information retrieval, important scientific concepts should be included where appropriate.
For manuscripts addressing hypothetical or emerging phenomena (e.g., terraforming, long-term human evolution in space, extraterrestrial governance), the title should distinguish between demonstrated findings and theoretical possibilities.
6. Authors and Affiliations
All authors should be listed in the order agreed upon by the authors.
Each author's institutional affiliation should include the relevant department or research unit, institution, city, and country.
The corresponding author should be clearly identified and should provide a valid professional email address.
Authors are strongly encouraged to provide an ORCID iD.
Only individuals who satisfy accepted authorship criteria should be listed as authors. Other contributors may be acknowledged separately.
7. Abstract
Every manuscript must include an abstract.
For Original Research Articles, the abstract should generally include: Background/Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.
For theoretical, conceptual, review, hypothesis, perspective, and commentary articles, an unstructured abstract may be used.
The abstract should accurately represent the content and contribution of the manuscript and should be understandable independently of the main text.
References should generally not be included in the abstract. Unexplained abbreviations and unsupported claims should be avoided.
8. Keywords
Authors should provide 4–8 keywords following the abstract.
Keywords should represent the principal concepts, systems, or methods discussed in the manuscript and should use established scientific terminology where possible.
Examples include:
Mars exploration, human settlement, space colonization, planetary science, in-situ resource utilization, life support systems, space habitation, human factors, space psychology, long-duration spaceflight, Mars analog missions, mission architecture, astrobiology, planetary protection, space governance, space ethics, terraforming.
9. Introduction
The Introduction should establish the scientific, engineering, or conceptual context of the manuscript and explain why the research problem is important.
It should identify the relevant knowledge gap or unresolved problem and clearly state the research question, hypothesis, objective, or theoretical proposition.
The Introduction should explain how the manuscript contributes to the broader scientific and societal discussion concerning Mars exploration, settlement, and human futures.
It should provide sufficient background to establish the rationale for the study without becoming an exhaustive review of the literature.
10. Literature Review and Background
The literature should be reviewed critically and in direct relation to the research question.
Authors should synthesize previous research rather than simply list publications. Important theoretical disagreements, methodological limitations, contradictory findings, and unresolved questions should be identified where relevant.
Because MARS SETTLEMENT is interdisciplinary, authors are encouraged to integrate relevant literature across disciplines rather than treating planetary science, engineering, medicine, psychology, law, economics, and ethics as isolated domains.
When introducing concepts such as planetary habitability, human adaptation, closed-loop ecosystems, space governance, or long-term societal evolution, authors should clearly distinguish established evidence from conceptual interpretation.
11. Methods
The Methods section should provide sufficient information for the research to be evaluated and, where feasible, reproduced.
Depending on the study, this may include research design, participants, analog environments, datasets, materials, experimental procedures, engineering models, simulation parameters, computational methods, software, statistical analyses, and evaluation methods.
For engineering and computational studies, authors should report relevant information concerning system architecture, materials, test conditions, simulation environments, validation procedures, performance metrics, and uncertainty analyses.
For studies involving human participants, physiological data, psychological assessments, or other sensitive materials, appropriate information concerning ethical approval, informed consent, participant protection, and relevant institutional requirements must be provided.
12. Results
The Results section should present the findings clearly, objectively, and logically.
Tables and figures should be used when they improve clarity and should complement rather than unnecessarily repeat the main text.
Statistical analyses should be reported using appropriate methods and sufficient information should be provided to allow readers to evaluate the findings.
For engineering, computational, and simulation research, appropriate performance measures, baseline comparisons, uncertainty estimates, and validation results should be reported where relevant.
Interpretation of the broader meaning of the findings should generally be reserved for the Discussion.13. Discussion
The Discussion should interpret the findings in relation to the research question, theoretical framework, and existing literature.
Authors should explain how their findings support, modify, challenge, or contradict previous research.
The broader implications for Mars exploration, settlement, human adaptation, space resource utilization, governance, ethics, and the long-term future of humanity may be discussed where appropriate.
Authors should clearly distinguish conclusions directly supported by the findings from broader theoretical interpretations.
Where findings may have multiple explanations, alternative interpretations should be acknowledged.
14. Limitations
Authors should explicitly discuss the principal limitations of their research.
Limitations may involve study design, sample size, analog fidelity, dataset constraints, methodology, measurement, computational constraints, theoretical assumptions, generalizability, or other relevant factors.
Research concerning Mars settlement and human futures may involve additional limitations because definitions, measurement frameworks, and long-term evidence may still be developing.
Acknowledging such limitations is an important component of rigorous scientific reporting.
15. Conclusion
The Conclusion should summarize the principal contribution of the manuscript and explain its broader scientific significance.
It should not simply repeat the Results.
Authors may identify unresolved questions and future research directions, particularly where the findings open new questions concerning human settlement, technological development, societal adaptation, governance, or the long-term evolution of human civilization beyond Earth.
MARS SETTLEMENT particularly encourages conclusions that recognize uncertainty rather than presenting premature certainty about the future development of Mars exploration or human settlement.
16. Figures and Tables
Figures and tables should be numbered consecutively and cited in the manuscript.
Each figure should have an informative caption, and each table should have a concise and descriptive title.
Figures should be submitted in an appropriate high-resolution format. Tables should preferably remain editable and should not be submitted solely as images.
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for copyrighted material reproduced from other sources.
17. Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials may include datasets, source code, computational notebooks, extended analyses, additional figures, experimental materials, engineering schematics, model specifications, mission simulation data, or other resources supporting the manuscript.
Where appropriate, authors are strongly encouraged to make data and code available through recognized repositories.
If supporting materials cannot be shared because of privacy, ethical, legal, security, proprietary restrictions, or export control regulations, authors should clearly state the reason.
18. Research Transparency and Reproducibility
MARS SETTLEMENT encourages transparent and reproducible research.
Authors should provide sufficient methodological information to enable independent scientific evaluation.
For engineering, computational, and simulation studies, transparency regarding system architecture, models, materials, test conditions, simulation environments, validation protocols, and relevant parameters is strongly encouraged.
Where complete reproducibility is not possible, authors should clearly identify the relevant limitations.
19. Ethical Considerations
Research involving human participants, clinical populations, personal information, physiological data, psychological assessments, or other sensitive data must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements.
Where applicable, authors must report ethics committee or institutional review board approval and informed consent procedures.
Research related to space exploration and settlement should address relevant ethical issues concerning safety, autonomy, resource allocation, environmental protection, planetary protection, governance, equity, and potential societal consequences where these issues are relevant to the research.
20. Artificial Intelligence Used in Research
When AI systems are used as research instruments, authors should clearly describe their role in the study.
Where relevant, manuscripts should identify the AI system, model, version, architecture, computational environment, or platform and provide sufficient methodological information for readers to understand how it contributed to the research.
Where commercially provided AI systems cannot be fully described, authors should report the information available to them and acknowledge limitations affecting reproducibility.
21. Generative AI in Manuscript Preparation
Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scholarly content of their manuscripts.
Generative AI tools may be used for limited purposes such as language assistance, translation, formatting, coding support, or other editorial tasks, provided that authors retain full responsibility for the final manuscript.
AI systems must not be listed as authors.
Where generative AI has been used substantially in the generation or modification of text, figures, code, analyses, or other scholarly content, its use should be disclosed according to the journal's applicable policy.
Authors must carefully verify AI-assisted material for factual errors, fabricated references, inappropriate citations, bias, and other inaccuracies.
22. References and Citation Style
MARS SETTLEMENT uses an author–date citation system.
In-text citations should generally follow the form:
(Smith, 2025)
For two authors:
(Smith & Jones, 2025)
For three or more authors:
(Smith et al., 2025)
Multiple references may be cited together:
(Brown, 2024; Smith et al., 2025; Williams & Lee, 2026)
Direct quotations should include page numbers where applicable.
The reference list should contain only works cited in the manuscript and should be arranged alphabetically according to the surname of the first author.
Authors should provide DOI information whenever available and should verify the accuracy and completeness of all references.
23. Authorship, Funding, and Conflict of Interest
All listed authors must have made a substantial contribution to the research and must approve the final manuscript.
Funding sources should be disclosed, including grant or award numbers where applicable.
Authors must disclose financial, institutional, professional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.
If no relevant conflicts exist, an explicit statement should be provided.
24. Data Availability Statement
Manuscripts reporting empirical, experimental, or computational research should include a Data Availability Statement where applicable.
Authors should indicate whether the supporting data are publicly available, available upon reasonable request, subject to restrictions, or unavailable.
Where possible, datasets, source code, computational notebooks, simulation data, engineering models, and other reproducibility materials should be deposited in appropriate repositories.
25. Originality and Prior Publication
Submitted manuscripts must be original.
The manuscript must not normally have been published previously in substantially the same form and should not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal.
All sources must be appropriately cited, and authors are responsible for identifying substantial overlap with previous publications.
Preprints may be considered where consistent with journal policy, provided their existence is disclosed during submission.
26. Peer Review
MARS SETTLEMENT uses double-anonymized peer review for manuscripts selected for external evaluation.
All submissions first undergo editorial assessment for scope, originality, scientific and engineering quality, methodological adequacy, and compliance with journal policies.
Manuscripts considered appropriate for external review are evaluated by independent experts with relevant expertise. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of MARS SETTLEMENT, manuscripts may be reviewed by experts from multiple disciplines when appropriate.
Following peer review, the editorial team may accept the manuscript, request revision, or reject it.
A request for revision does not guarantee acceptance.
27. Revised Manuscripts
When a manuscript is returned for revision, authors should submit a revised version together with a point-by-point response to the reviewers' comments.
The response should explain clearly how each substantive comment has been addressed. Where the authors disagree with a reviewer recommendation, they should provide a reasoned scientific explanation.
Major revisions may be returned to the original reviewers for further evaluation.
28. Final Note to Authors
MARS SETTLEMENT welcomes research that does not necessarily fit within a single established disciplinary category.
The journal is particularly interested in work that identifies new questions, unexpected phenomena, conceptual boundaries, theoretical tensions, and previously unrecognized relationships between exploration, technology, and human futures.
Authors are encouraged to approach Mars settlement and human expansion into space without assuming a predetermined outcome.
Human settlement on Mars may expand human knowledge and capability, transform societies, redistribute resources, generate new forms of governance, or produce unintended ecological, social, or psychological consequences. These transformations may prove adaptive, neutral, disruptive, maladaptive, dysfunctional, or otherwise consequential.
The journal therefore does not seek to determine in advance what human futures in space will become.
MARS SETTLEMENT seeks to provide a rigorous scientific forum for investigating how humanity may evolve, transform, and adapt as it extends its presence beyond Earth.
From Exploration to Settlement.
From Earth to Mars.
From the Present to the Future.
