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Publication process after acceptance

Accepted Manuscripts

This journal publishes Accepted Manuscripts online rapidly following acceptance (and receipt of final files and completed publishing agreements), allowing authors to make their work available to read and cite much more quickly. More information about Accepted Manuscripts can be found below.

What version of the article will be published?

The version of the article that is accepted by the Editor will be converted to PDF format and published online as is, before copy-editing or typesetting. The Accepted Manuscript will eventually be replaced with the final copy-edited and typeset Version of Record.

When will the Accepted Manuscript be published?

We aim to publish the Accepted Manuscript within 48 hours of final acceptance, provided we have received all final files and a completed publishing agreement.

How can I cite my Accepted Manuscript?

Your Accepted Manuscript will be given a DOI, which can be used to cite the manuscript. Citations should indicate that the manuscript is not the final version.

Are figures or tables included in the Accepted Manuscript?

If authors wish to include figures/tables within the published Accepted Manuscript, they will need to supply a clean version of the manuscript (as one file) with these figures/tables included, for the purposes of Accepted Manuscript publication. This clean version should be clearly named and have the figures/tables placed in the appropriate places within the article.

If any figures/tables are essential for readers to understand the manuscript, authors must provide a clean version of their manuscript with these figures/tables included. 

Can I opt out of Accepted Manuscript publication?

Authors wishing to opt out of Accepted Manuscript publication must contact the Editorial Office before acceptance and no later than 24 hours after acceptance.

What happens if I want to make changes to my Accepted Manuscript?

You will still be able to make corrections to typographical errors in your proofs in the usual way, which will be incorporated into the final Version of Record. Proofs will be sent to you around two weeks after acceptance.

What licence will the Accepted Manuscript be published under?

If you have chosen to publish your article Gold Open Access, this will only apply to the final Version of Record due to workflow limitations. That is, a Creative Commons licence will not be applied to this Accepted Manuscript. However, authors may continue to benefit from this journal’s Green Open Access policy, which allows authors to use a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND licence when sharing their accepted manuscripts in other situations.

If you have not chosen Gold Open Access, this Accepted Manuscript will be published in accordance with the terms of your publishing agreement.

In all cases, the final Version of Record will always be published with the licence chosen in your publishing agreement.

The Accepted Manuscript (AM) file must be a single Word (or similar word processor) file with the abstract, main text, references, tables and figures. It does not need to be laid out as the final article will be published but it must include all those elements in the single file. You cannot upload a zip or other format file as the AM file. It must be word processor and a single file. The AM file is processed in a different (and more rapid) way than the other source files which are copy edited and typeset. We need all the source files and the AM file.


Acceptance

On receipt of the production files you will be sent an email indicating completion of the acceptance process.

The corresponding author will also receive an email from “Cambridge University Press via Ironclad” ([email protected])* asking them to complete an Information Request Form. This is the first step towards signing a licence to publish agreement, which is a requirement that needs to be fulfilled before a paper can be published. Under the agreement, certain rights are granted to the journal owner which allow publication of the paper. The original ownership of the copyright in the paper remains unchanged. For further details, please see our publishing agreement page.

Please note that an article cannot proceed to Cambridge Production without a completed agreement.

If required, the corresponding author may be prompted to upload the final files needed for Production: (1) the final PDF or Word version of the paper, designated as ‘single anonymous’ or 'double anonymous'; (2) any source files which must be designated as ‘production (not for review)’ and uploaded as a single .zip or .tar file.

Publication Process

Once a paper has been accepted for publication, the source files have been uploaded and the publishing agreement signed, the manuscript will be sent to Cambridge University Press for copyediting and typesetting, and will be assigned a digital object identifier (doi). When the proof is ready, authors will receive an email alert containing a link to the PDF of the proof, and instructions for its correction and return. It is imperative that authors check their proofs closely, particularly the equations and figures, which should be checked against the accepted file, as the production schedule does not allow for corrections at a later stage. The PDF published online is the Version of Record and no further alterations/corrections to this document will be allowed.

For further information please refer to our central production guide and production FAQ