Preliminary publication of an article on the journal website
An article may appear on a journal website before the final issue is released. Such versions are often called Article in Press, journal pre-proof, or online first.
In detail
In many modern journals, publication proceeds in stages. After acceptance and basic publisher preparation, the article may be placed online before it receives its final place in an issue.
Such publication means that the article has already
- passed peer review;
- been accepted by the editorial office;
- been prepared for public posting;
- become available to readers.
But this is not always the final version of record
- final page numbers may be missing;
- final layout may be missing;
- volume and issue may be absent;
- supplementary materials may not yet be fully finalized;
- the final version of links and navigation may still be pending.
For the author, this is an important stage because the article is already visible, searchable, and often citable by DOI and online publication year.
Why confusion arises
Many people assume that if the article is already published on the website, the whole process is complete. In reality, this is often only an intermediate, though official, publication stage.
What is important to remember
Preliminary online publication means that the article has already become public, but its final place in an issue may be assigned later.