Online First and Preprints

DAFS supports the timely dissemination of research while protecting the integrity of the published record. This policy explains Online First publication and how preprints and other prior dissemination are treated.

Online First

Online First is the early publication of an article on the journal website once it has completed peer review and production, before it is assigned to a bi-monthly issue. Publishing Online First allows the research community to read and cite new findings without waiting for issue compilation. An Online First article is complete and peer-reviewed, carries a DOI (Crossref prefix 10.14738) from the moment it appears, and is freely available in open access.

Citing an Online First article

Until an article is assigned to a volume and issue, cite it using the authors, year, title, journal name, the words “Online First” (or “Advance online publication”) and the DOI. The DOI does not change when the article is later placed in an issue, so citations and links made to the Online First version continue to resolve to the final article; once volume, issue and page details are added, please cite the final version of record.

Preprints

Posting a manuscript as a preprint on a recognised preprint server or institutional repository is permitted and does not count as prior publication. Authors may post the submitted and accepted versions without embargo, as set out in the Open Access, Copyright & Licensing policy, and should link the preprint to the version of record once the article is published. Authors are asked to disclose any preprint, with its DOI or URL, on submission.

Theses, conference papers and datasets

Material that has appeared in a thesis, as a conference presentation or abstract, or as a deposited dataset is generally acceptable as the basis for a submission, provided the manuscript represents a substantial and properly cited development of that work and the prior dissemination is disclosed. This is not redundant publication, but it must be transparent.

What to disclose

On submission, authors should inform the editor of any preprint, any related manuscript in press or under consideration elsewhere, and any overlap with their own earlier work. Undisclosed duplicate or redundant publication is handled under the Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement.