Authors should apply the same standards of good scholarship to preprints as those required for traditional publication. Refer to the Guidelines for Ethics in Research provided by the JPL Office of the Chief Scientist and Chief Technologist. A preprint should clearly indicate that the manuscript has not undergone peer review.
Authors should clear a preprint through the Unlimited Release System (URS) prior to external release. See relevant Rules.
Authors should carefully review the policy and guidelines of prospective publishers before posting to a preprint server. Publishers should outline any expectations for the author. Authors should disclose to the journal if they have previously published their work on a preprint server.
Authors should carefully review the policies and guidelines of a preprint server prior to submission. Authors should take into consideration that there is no industry-wide standard for how preprints are handled. Preprints are posted by the author in an openly accessible platform. Some preprint platforms don’t allow removal of preprints once the content has been posted to the preprint server. Where preprint servers allow revisions, there should be clear version history. Published preprints will need to be updated by the author on the preprint server at each stage of publication. It is important to link preprints to published articles.
Authors should pay close attention to copyright and licensing implications before posting on a preprint server. Posting to preprint servers may be inconsistent with JPL’s copyright assignment policies; Document Review Services (DRS) is responsible for reviewing all copyright forms. Authors should also pay attention to any licensing issues that might arise from journal consideration and concurrent preprint submission.
Authors should not agree to costs for use of a preprint server; the institution will not fund the cost. In general, it is recommended that authors use only nonprofit preprint servers; in fact, publishers may not accept a manuscript for which a preprint was distributed via a commercial platform.
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