Online First and Preprints

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

Online First

Online First is the publication of a complete, peer-reviewed and copy-edited article on the journal website as soon as production is finished, before the article is assigned to a bi-monthly issue. It allows the research community to read, cite and build on new findings without waiting for an issue to be compiled, which is particularly valuable in fast-moving engineering and computing fields.

The version published at this stage

An Online First article is the accepted, edited and typeset article. The scholarly content of the article does not change when volume, issue and page numbers are later added; only those publication details are completed.

Timing

An article is normally released Online First within a short period after acceptance and completion of production, and is later assigned to an issue in the ordinary course of the publication schedule.

DOI and permanent citability

Each Online First article is assigned a digital object identifier (DOI), registered with Crossref under the prefix 10.14738, from the moment it appears, and is fully citable from that date. Because the DOI does not change when the article is later placed in an issue, links and citations made to the Online First version continue to resolve to the final article.

Open access and licensing

Online First articles are open access from the moment of publication, under the journal’s Creative Commons licence and on the same terms as articles in a compiled issue; authors retain copyright. The licensing terms are set out in the Open Access, Copyright & Licensing policy.

How to cite 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. Once volume, issue and page details have been added, please cite the final version of record with those details.

Corrections to Online First articles

If a significant error is identified in an Online First article, it is handled under the Corrections, Retractions & Withdrawals policy, and any notice is linked to the article. The version of record is the article as published, including any subsequent corrections.

Indexing and discovery

Metadata for Online First articles — including title, authors, abstract, keywords and DOI — is made available to support discovery and indexing, so that the work can be found and cited before issue assignment.

Assignment to an issue

In due course each Online First article is assigned to a volume and issue and given its final page or article numbering. The DOI and the scholarly content remain unchanged; only the citation details are completed, and citations to the Online First version continue to resolve correctly.

Preprints

Posting a manuscript as a preprint on a recognised preprint server (for example arXiv) or an 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.

Extended versions of conference papers and other prior dissemination

In engineering and computing it is common for a journal article to extend an earlier conference paper. TECS welcomes such submissions provided that the journal version makes a substantial new contribution beyond the conference version, that the earlier paper is cited and its relationship to the submission is explained, and that the extent of the new material is disclosed on submission. Material that has appeared in a thesis or as a deposited dataset is likewise acceptable as the basis for a submission, provided the manuscript is a substantial and properly cited development and the prior dissemination is disclosed. Such transparent extension is not redundant publication; undisclosed duplicate or redundant publication is handled under the Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement.

What to disclose

On submission, authors should inform the editor of any preprint, any earlier conference version, any related manuscript in press or under consideration elsewhere, and any overlap with their own earlier work, so that the editor can consider it.