Journal Compatibility and Preprint Policy

Journal Compatibility and Preprint Policy

Navigating journal preprint policies can occasionally cause hesitation, but the current academic publishing landscape is overwhelmingly supportive of early, open dissemination. Sharing your original manuscript on MechanicsArXiv prior to or during the formal submission process is a standard practice that will not jeopardize its eligibility for publication in the vast majority of scientific venues.

Here is how sharing your work on MechanicsArXiv aligns with the policies of major publishers:

Solid Mechanics and Engineering Journals

Within the mechanics community, policies are highly permissive and designed to facilitate rapid communication (and this extends to most APS and materials science journals as well e.g. Physical Review Letters):

  • Elsevier Titles: Cornerstone journals such as the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids (JMPS) and the International Journal of Solids and Structures (IJSS) explicitly allow authors to post their original, pre-peer-reviewed manuscripts to preprint servers at any time.
  • ASME Titles: The Journal of Applied Mechanics (JAM) and other ASME journals fundamentally support community-led open access and encourage early sharing.

General Science Journals (Nature, Science, PNAS)

High-impact general science journals fully permit the use of preprint servers. In fact, posting preprints for these venues has been standard practice on arXiv for quite some time. However, to utilize MechanicsArXiv while submitting to these journals, authors must protect the publisher's "scoop" by adhering to the following rules:

  • Strict Media Embargoes: While you are encouraged to share and discuss your MechanicsArXiv preprint within the scientific community, you must refrain from soliciting mainstream media coverage or engaging in public relations campaigns until the manuscript is formally published.
  • Acceptance Confidentiality: You cannot publicly mention or advertise that the paper has been accepted in a journal like Nature until the publisher's official media embargo is lifted.
  • Version Restrictions: You may post your original submitted manuscript, but you cannot post the final, copy-edited version of the paper produced by the journal.

Important Best Practices for Authors

While posting a preprint is universally accepted by these venues, authors should keep a few practical nuances in mind:

  1. Always Disclose: When submitting your manuscript to a journal (Nature, Science, Elsevier, ASME, etc.), you should simply disclose in your cover letter or submission portal that the paper is currently hosted on MechanicsArXiv.

Update Your Record: Once your manuscript is accepted and published, major publishers simply require that you update your MechanicsArXiv preprint record to include the DOI linking to the final Version of Record.