What are the different versions of scholarly articles?
Answer
Scholarly articles are often referred to by their "version," or iteration. Some common definitions you may come across are:
- Pre-print (or preprint)
- Initial version submitted to journal (pre-refereeing/pre-peer review)
- Also called the "submitted manuscript" or "submitted version"
- Accepted manuscript
- Author’s final version, post-refereeing/post-peer review, but without publisher’s formatting/layout
- Also called "post-print" (or "postprint") or "final accepted version"
- Final version
- Version as it appears in journal
- Also called the "version of record" or the "publisher's version"
Here are some examples of how Accepted Manuscripts look compared to Final Versions:
Journal publishers sometimes specify which version, if any, can be deposited into an open access repository such as Digital USD. If you have authored a scholarly article and would like to know if it is eligible for deposit, please contact the Digital Initiatives unit at digital@sandiego.edu and we will help you navigate the process.
(FAQ created by Amanda Makula)