Article Version
It is important to understand which version of an article you are reading and what rights you have when you access the content. The following are the current two main versions of article.
There are two formats of Author's Manuscript: Pre-print and Post-print:
Pre-print
An author's own version of an article before it has undergone peer review and traditional publication.
Post-print
An author's own version of an article incorporating all the changes and suggestions required by peer reviewers and editors, but not the publisher's own copy-edited and formatted version. Many publishers allow the self-archiving of the post-print version of an article, but not the publisher's "official" formatted version. These are also often referred to as "Author's Accepted Manuscripts".
Author's manuscript characteristics:
- Identical content as the Publisher's Version
- No formatting
- No design
- CAN be uploaded to institutional repository/personal website (subjected to publisher's copyright policy)
- Green Open Access mainly appear in this article version
The publisher's version is the formal published version:
Publisher's version
Publisher's "official" formatted version, includes publisher's value-added contributions such as copy-editing, formatting, technical enhancements and pagination. The publisher's version is the formal version that could be accessed and downloaded from publisher's website.
Publisher's version characteristics:
- Publisher's logo/name
- Publication's information
(E.g. journal name, volume, issue number ...) - Publisher's formatting
(E.g. columns, borders, pagination, variable font sizes ...) - CANNOT be uploaded to institutional repository/personal website (due to copyright restriction)
- Gold / Hybrid Open Access mainly appear in this article version