Which version to deposit in Spiral
For peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers accepted on or after the 1st January 2024, upload the author accepted manuscript (AAM) under the new Research Open Access Policy (RPOAP) if your publisher is on the publisher notified list. Please contact the Open Access team if your publisher is not on the list.
For all other published outputs, you should upload the version which your publisher permits. Check your publisher agreement or search for the journal in Jisc’s open policy finder.
Milestone versions
| Version | Description | Who is the copyright holder? |
|---|---|---|
| Preprint | Early version circulated as a work in progress | You are the copyright holder |
| Submitted | Version submitted to a journal for publication and/or peer review | You are the copyright holder but the publisher may control your use of this version once you have signed their publishing agreement |
| Accepted | Author-created version incorporating referee and/or editorial comments as accepted for publication. Sometimes referred to as the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) or postprint | At acceptance you transfer or exclusively license copyright in the accepted manuscript to the publisher. The signed publishing agreement now determines what you can and can't do with the accepted version of your paper. Many publishers request a delay of 12 months in making this version publicly available in an open access repository. |
| Published | The publisher-created published version (PDF). Sometimes referred to as the Version of Record (VoR) | Copyright in this version will be either assigned or exclusively licensed to the publisher. Read your publishing agreement to determine if you can deposit a copy of the published version of your paper to an open access repository. This is more common where you have paid an open access fee. |
| Updated | A version updated since publication | Check publishing agreement |
Publishers and Sherpa Romeo use different terminology for versions. This table shows how these can be mapped to the Spiral terminology.
Version terminology
| Spiral | Sherpa Romeo | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Published version | Post-print | Publisher version/PDF |
| Accepted version | Post-print | Pre-print |
| Submitted version | Pre-print | Pre-print |