[GOAL] Re: Master theses as preprints

[Couture Marc]

Longva Leif wrote:

>
> So I am still keen on views on how common it is for journals to reject manuscripts
> if the preprint is already available in an IR.
>

This would be an application of Ingelfinger Rule (no submission accepted in case of “prior publication”).

I haven’t found any in-depth study on the criteria journals use to determine what constitutes prior publication, or simply on the prevalence of this rule these days (some journals/publishers which used to apply the rule have ceased to do so).

The following blog post gives some information, notably about major publishers. It suggests that posting on an institutional repository is not usually considered “prior publication”.

http://www.scilogs.com/from_the_lab_bench/open-access-to-science-communication-research-your-options 

As to the specific case of theses (Master or PhD), I would think that even fewer publishers apply the rule. I know only of one particular publisher, American Chemical Society, among the most anti-OA publishing organizations (no self-archiving of articles, very limited reuse rights for authors, etc.), which states on its website:

“posting of theses and dissertation material on the Web prior to submission of material from that thesis or dissertation to an ACS journal may affect publication in that journal. Whether Web posting is considered prior publication may be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the journal’s editor.”

http://pubs.acs.org/userimages/ContentEditor/1218205107465/dissertation.pdf 

But I would think this hard stance is not shared by many other publishers.

Marc Couture