Preprints and self-archiving

Posting a manuscript as a preprint is permitted before submission and during assessment. Authors disclose its URL, identifier and version and notify the editors of substantial updates. A public preprint may make authorship recognisable; the editors take this into account when selecting independent reviewers. A preprint does not establish that the work has been reviewed or accepted.

Authors may deposit preprints and accepted author manuscripts in institutional or subject repositories, on personal scholarly pages and through other lawful channels without a journal-imposed embargo. Each version is accurately labelled as a preprint, accepted author manuscript or published version. After publication, the record includes the full citation, permanent article-page link and identifier.

Public deposit of the publisher’s version depends on rights in that version, its licensing terms and rights in included material. No general open licence is declared for the full text. Authors retaining the relevant rights may exercise them within the law and their agreements; XMLLIB’s subscription model does not itself transfer exclusive copyright to the journal.

Any separate licence for a preprint, data or code is attached to that object and is not automatically replaced by the article or metadata licence. A repository should maintain clear version information and a persistent link. Scholarly networks such as ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net) and Academia.edu (https://www.academia.edu) may provide additional dissemination channels but do not themselves replace a long-term preservation plan.

Following correction or retraction, authors update records of versions they have deposited where possible and link to the journal’s notice. Removing a version must not conceal a substantive correction to the scholarly record; statutory restrictions on dissemination are addressed as required by law.