List of academic journals by preprint policy

This is a list of academic journals by their submission policies regarding the use of preprints prior to publication, such as the arXiv. Journals focusing on physics and mathematics are excluded because they routinely accept manuscripts that have been posted to preprint servers.

Academic presses with unified policies

Press	Policy type	Policy text	Source
APS Journals	Compatible	From the submission FAQ: "E-print number, e.g., 0804.1718, assigned by the arXiv e-print servers. This can be used at submission to automatically download files from the e-print server."	[1]
Nature Publishing Group	Compatible	"Nature never wishes to stand in the way of communication between researchers.[...] Communication between researchers includes not only conferences but also preprint servers. The ArXiv preprint server is the medium of choice for (mainly) physicists and astronomers who wish to share drafts of their papers with their colleagues, and with anyone else with sufficient time and knowledge to navigate it. [...] If scientists wish to display drafts of their research papers on an established preprint server before or during submission to Nature or any Nature journal, that's fine by us."	[2]
Oxford Journals	Mixed	For the majority of Oxford Journals, prior to acceptance for publication, authors retain the right to make a pre-print [A preprint is defined here as un-refereed author version of the article] version of the article available on your own personal website and/or that of your employer and/or in free public servers of preprints and/or articles in your subject area, provided that where possible. NOTE: This does not include Journal of the National Cancer Institute.	[3]
Elsevier	Mixed	In general, Elsevier is permissive with respect to authors and electronic preprints. If an electronic preprint of an article is placed on a public server prior to its submission to an Elsevier journal or where a paper was originally authored as a thesis or dissertation, this is not generally viewed by Elsevier as “prior publication” [However, many journals, e.g. Cell, Neuron, Current Biology and The Lancet are incompatible.]	[4]
Springer Open Journals incl. BioMed Central	Compatible	Posting a manuscript on a pre-print server such as ArXiv or Nature Precedings is not considered to be duplicate publication. SpringerOpen/Biomed Central will also consider peer reviewing manuscripts that have been posted on an author's personal or institutional website.	[5] [6]
Wiley-Blackwell	Mixed	[No policy at level of Press:] Journal instructions should clearly explain what is, and what is not, considered to be prior publication. Abstracts and posters at conferences, results presented at meetings (for example, to inform investigators or participants about findings), results databases (data without interpretation, discussion, context or conclusions in the form of tables and text to describe data/information where this is not easily presented in tabular form) are not considered by Wiley-Blackwell to be prior publication.	[7] [8]
PLOS	Compatible	[all PLOS Journals feature this language:] Authors may present and discuss their findings ahead of publication: at medical or scientific conferences, on preprint servers, in public databases, and in blogs, wikis, tweets, and other informal communication channels.	e.g. [9]
PeerJ	Compatible	PeerJ accepts submissions which have previously appeared on preprint servers (including PeerJ PrePrints and arXiv); have previously been presented at conferences; or have previously appeared in other ‘non journal’ venues (for example: blogs or posters).	[10]
Royal Society Publishing	Compatible	8. Media embargo. The main findings of articles should not have been reported in the mass media. Like many journals, we employ a strict embargo policy where the reporting of a scientific article by the media is embargoed until a specific time. The Editor has final authority in all matters relating to publication. Posting of preprints on arXiv is permitted under this policy.	[11]

Individual journals

Journal	Publisher	Policy type	Policy text	Source
Science	AAAS	Compatible in many cases	Posting of a paper on the Internet may be considered prior publication that could compromise the originality of the Science submission, although we do allow posting on not-for-profit preprint servers in many cases. Please contact the editors for advice about specific cases.	[12]
PNAS		Compatible	Preprints have a long and notable history in science, and it has been PNAS policy that they do not constitute prior publication. This is true whether an author hands copies of a manuscript to a few trusted colleagues or puts it on a publicly accessible web site for everyone to read, as is common now in parts of the physics community	[13]
Current Biology	Cell	Likely Incompatible / Unclear	Prior publication could include, but is not limited to, deposition of all or part of the data in a publicly-accessible preprint or poster repository. Questions related to this policy should be directed to the editors. All in-press or submitted works that are pertinent to the manuscript under consideration by the journal must accompany the submission. Related manuscripts that have been submitted elsewhere during the period of revision, must accompany revised manuscripts. Failure to provide copies of related manuscripts under consideration elsewhere may be grounds for rejection. Under no circumstances will any paper be considered that contains any data that have been submitted for publication elsewhere or parts of which have been reported in any other publication or electronic medium	[14]
Journal of Neuroscience		Compatible	The Journal of Neuroscience generally does not accept manuscripts that have been previously published. An exception is made for manuscripts that have been posted on the Internet for the purpose of receiving commentary from the community. Such posting is typically done at a pre-publication repository that has been designed for the purpose, but posting on an institutional web site or other Internet location is acceptable	[15]
Journal of Theoretical Biology		Compatible	In general, Elsevier is permissive with respect to authors and electronic preprints. If an electronic preprint of an article is placed on a public server prior to its submission to an Elsevier journal or where a paper was originally authored as a thesis or dissertation, this is not generally viewed by Elsevier as “prior publication”	[16]
Cell	Cell	Likely Incompatible / Unclear	Providing preprints, granting interviews, discussing data with members of the media, or participating in press conferences in advance of publication without prior approval from the Cell editorial office may be grounds for rejection.	[17]
Neuron	Cell	Incompatible	Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that no part of the work has been published previously in print or electronic format and the paper is not under consideration by another publication or electronic medium. Prior publication could include, but is not limited to, deposition of all or part of the data in a publicly-accessible preprint or poster repository	[18]
Developmental Cell	Cell	Incompatible	Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that no part of the work has been published previously in print or electronic format and the paper is not under consideration by another publication or electronic medium. Prior publication could include, but is not limited to, deposition of all or part of the data in a publicly-accessible preprint or poster repository	[19]
Molecular Cell	Cell	Incompatible	Providing preprints, granting interviews, discussing data with members of the media, or participating in press conferences in advance of publication without prior approval from the Molecular Cell editorial office may be grounds for rejection.	[20]
Genome Research		Compatible	The journal only accepts papers that present original research that has not been published previously. Conference presentations or posting unrefereed manuscripts on not-for-profit community preprint servers will not be considered prior publication. Authors are responsible for updating the archived preprint with the journal reference (including DOI), and a link to the published article on the Genome Research website upon publication.	[21]
eLife		Compatible	Conference presentations, blog discussions, and deposition to open, online repositories will not affect consideration of a manuscript by eLife. We want to encourage high-quality, informed, and widespread discussion of new research before and after publication, depending on interest in the material and the authors' preferences. So, yes, works posted to arXiv are eligible for submission to eLife.	[citation needed]
Journal of Experimental Biology		Incompatible	By submitting a research article to JEB, the authors undertake that it has not been published previously (this generally includes posting the article on a preprint server) and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.	[22]
Frontiers in Journals		Compatible	This shall not prevent the author from issuing abstracts to conferences or depositing the draft article in a non-commercial, non peer-reviewed preprint archive such as arXiv.org or similar depositaries in accordance with usual academic practice.	[23]
Biophysical Journal	Cell	Incompatible	Prior publication could include, but is not limited to, deposition of all or part of the data in a publicly accessible preprint or poster repository.	[24]
Journal of Bacteriology		Incompatible	In brief, a paper is not acceptable for submission to an ASM journal if it, or its substance, has been published/posted in: •A serial, periodical, or book •A conference report or symposium proceedings •A technical bulletin or company white paper •A nonpersonal website •Any other retrievable source	[25]
Journal of Biology of the Cell		Likely Incompatible / Unclear	Unclear. When submitting a manuscript to BoC it is understood that the data have been neither published nor also submitted for publication elsewhere in any language (excluding abstracts for conferences of less than one page and without illustrations)	[26]
EMBO Journal	Nature Publishing Group	Compatible	Manuscripts may be posted prior to submission on recognised pre-publication platforms dedicated to discussion among peers, such as preprint servers (e.g. arXiv or Nature Precedings). The details of the preprint server concerned and any accession numbers must be included in the cover letter accompanying submission of the manuscript.	[27]
Journal of Neurophysiology		Compatible	Authors submitting to the Journal of Neurophysiology (JN) may submit papers that have been previously posted to preprint servers and other non-peer-reviewed websites.	[28]
Molecular and Cellular Proteomics		Likely Incompatible / Unclear	Submission of any manuscript presenting original research findings to MCP implies that all of the data presented in the manuscript is original and cannot have been previously published, wholly or in part, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. This includes all print and electronic journals and any publicly accessible databases.	[29]
Journal of Proteome Research		Incompatible	The Journal of Proteome Research considers for publication only original work that has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. When submitting a manuscript, an author should inform the editor of any prior dissemination of the content in print or electronic format. This includes electronic posting of conference esentations, posters, and preprints on institutional epositories and other Web sites. Any content that has been made publicly available, either in print or electronic format, and that contains a significant amount of new information, if made part of a submitted manuscript, may jeopardize the originality of the submission and may preclude consideration for publication.	[30]
American Journal of Human Genetics	Cell	Likely Incompatible/ Unclear	Work intended for submission to AJHG, currently under consideration at AJHG, or in press at AJHG may not be discussed with the media before publication. Providing preprints, granting interviews, discussing data with members of the media, or participating in press conferences in advance of publication without prior approval from the AJHG editorial office may be grounds for rejection.	[31]
Genetics		Compatible	GENETICS allows authors to deposit manuscripts (currently under review or those for intended submission to GENETICS) in non-commercial, pre-print servers such as ArXiv.	[32]

See also

• Comparison of open-access journals
• SHERPA/RoMEO Publisher copyright policies & self-archiving search service