Authors' Rights in Scholarly Publishing: Article Versions

PREPRINT

The version of an article before peer review, copy editing, and publisher formatting. A manuscript that is submitted to a journal.

Also known as: submitted version; author's original manuscript; original manuscript.

See also: Our guide, Preprints: The Basics.

EXAMPLE:

Preprint example from: Ikner LA, Torrey JR, Gundy PM, Gerba CP. A continuously active antimicrobial coating effective against human coronavirus 229E. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2020 May 13 [cited 2021 Feb 12]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.10.20097329. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Only first page used.

POSTPRINT

The version of an article after peer review, but before copy editing and publisher formatting.

Also known as: accepted manuscript; authors accepted manuscript; final author version.

EXAMPLE:

Postprint example from: Moguel-Cobos G, Maroney Z, Erickson JM, Tröster AI, Quinn DK. Psychogenic movement disorders and dopamine transporter scans: Still a clinical diagnosis? Psychosomatics. 2017 Jan-Feb;58(1):83-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psym.2016.08.009. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Only first page used.

PUBLISHER'S VERSION

The final version you see in a journal, after peer review, copy editing, and publisher formatting.

Also known as: final version; final published version; version of record.

EXAMPLE:

Publisher's version example from: Siu AL, Zimbroff RM, Federman AD, DeCherrie LV, Garrido M, Morano B, Lubetsky S, Catalan E, Leff B. The effect of adapting Hospital at Home to facilitate implementation and sustainment on program drift or voltage drop. BMC Health Serv Res. 2019 Dec;19(1):1-2. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4063-8. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Only first page used.

Source: SHERPA/RoMEO [Internet]. Bristol (UK): Jisc. About: Glossary; [cited 2021 Feb 12]. Available from: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/about.html