This final lesson defines two key terms, "Pre-print" and "Article in Press", that describe your paper's status outside of the traditional "submitted" or "published" categories.

1. What is a Preprint?

A pre-print is a full draft of a research paper that an author makes publicly available on a pre-print server (like Research Square, bioRxiv, or medRxiv).

The most important feature of a pre-print is that it is posted before it has been formally peer-reviewed by a journal.

Key Points:

It is NOT peer-reviewed. This is a critical distinction.
It accelerates research. Your findings are made public immediately, allowing others to see, comment on, and build upon your work much faster than the traditional journal process.
It is citable. When you upload your paper to a pre-print server, it receives a DOI (Document Object Identifier). This is a permanent digital link, which means other researchers can cite your pre-print in their own papers.
What if it's never accepted by a journal? The pre-print still exists as a citable document, but it will always be identifiable as a non-peer-reviewed pre-print.

2. What is an "Article in Press" or "Accepted Manuscript"?

These two terms mean the exact same thing.

This is the official status of your paper after it has successfully:

Gone through formal peer review.
Been formally accepted for publication by the journal editor.

It is the final, accepted version of your paper before it has gone through the journal's final "production" phase (which includes copyediting, typesetting, and formatting it into the final branded PDF).

Once your paper is "in press," you can refer to it as "accepted" on your CV and in communications.

This concludes our 9-lesson series on Journal Selection and Publication. You've learned why journal selection is a critical first step, how to build and vet a journal shortlist, how to avoid predators, and the key terms to know along the way.

Lesson 9: Glossary – Key Publishing Terms

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CHAPTER#1 JOURNAL SELECTION

CHAPTER#2 PEER REVIEW PROCESS

CHAPTER#3 Ethics in Publishing

CHAPTER#4 Academic branding