One title can identify several materially different objects
A paper may appear online as a preprint, submitted draft, accepted manuscript and publisher version. Content, pagination, licence and citation status differ. Without an explicit label, readers may mistake an unreviewed release for the definitive article or miss a later correction. Search engines amplify ambiguity when PDFs share title and author names.
Version terms describe publication state rather than guarantee quality. A preprint may be thoroughly documented but has not been peer reviewed by the named journal. An accepted manuscript contains changes required for acceptance, but not necessarily typesetting, pagination or later corrections. The version of record is the formally published, maintained record.
Use NISO JAV language where practical and add plain English. Publisher agreements may use related terms with specific legal meaning. The actual agreement controls deposit rights; this guide is not legal advice.
Place a minimum version notice inside the file
Put title, authors, recognised term, version date and DOI or durable VoR link on the first page. A filename disappears when a document is renamed or attached elsewhere. Repeat the data in repository metadata and select an explicit relationship to the canonical publication.
An accepted-manuscript notice can say: “This is the accepted author manuscript of [title], accepted on [date]. The version of record is available at [DOI]. Pagination and layout differ.” Add the permitted licence and embargo information. Do not imitate publisher branding or layout without permission.
A preprint states visibly that it was not accepted by the named journal at that point. After publication, update the landing page and link relation without rewriting the historic date. A changed preprint receives a new version number and change note.
Include a machine-readable relation where the repository supports it, but keep the human notice. Metadata can be stripped from a downloaded PDF; embedded wording travels with it.
Cite the release that supports the proposition
Once a VoR and DOI exist, that is usually the preferred bibliographic reference. Still confirm that it contains the statement used. If discussing analysis present only in the preprint, identify and cite that preprint. A VoR citation must not appear to support content removed before publication.
Accepted-manuscript pagination rarely matches publisher typesetting. A direct quotation needs a locator from the consulted release and an unambiguous version statement. For unpaginated HTML, a section or paragraph may be used if the citation style allows.
Online-first date, issue date and print year may differ. Take bibliographic data from the canonical publisher record and use the DOI rather than a session URL. An access date matters more for changeable living documents than a fixed VoR.
Check rights and embargo before repository release
Identify which version the agreement or publisher policy allows in which repository and when. Permission for an AAM does not automatically allow deposit of the publisher PDF. Funding and institutional requirements matter, but any conflict should go to the relevant open-access or legal office rather than be resolved by assumption.
An embargo starts at a defined event such as acceptance or publication. Record the actual end date rather than “after twelve months”. Metadata can often be public before file access. Ensure that a direct object URL does not bypass the restriction shown on the landing page.
Do not guess a licence. Creative Commons terms apply only where the rights holder validly grants them. Repository metadata records rights, access state and source. Test public availability while signed out.
For a third-party figure or supplement, deposit permission may differ from the main manuscript. Remove material only when required and explain the omission, rather than silently supplying an incomplete file.
Expose corrections and retractions across versions
When the publisher corrects the article, update the repository landing page and link the notice. A historic manuscript can remain as an identified version, but should not sit beside a corrected VoR without warning. A retracted paper remains discoverable with prominent status and the official notice.
Compare AAM and VoR before deposit and record consequential changes rather than every typesetting difference. Do not attach a VoR-only supplement to an earlier manuscript as though it had always belonged there. Data and software releases receive their own identifiers and relationships.
Schedule a post-publication check of PDF notice, repository fields, DOI and access status. A correct deposit request is not proof of the final public presentation. Report missing relations or stale links to the repository custodian.
The preprint workflow covers parallel submission. The post-publication process addresses correction status. More material sits in the publication ethics hub. The one foundation route is the guide to verifiable records.