An article may go through many different stages before it’s published, and it’s important to track this carefully.
- Draft - the first version created by the author.
- Preprint - early draft or manuscript shared by researcher in a preprint repository or dedicated channel (outside of a specific journal)
- Pending publication (PP) - a manuscript which has been accepted but has not yet been published online
- Advanced online publication or ahead of print (AOP) - early release of publication which publisher makes available to readers on their platform (prior to typesetting or before final published form)
- Author accepted manuscript (AAM) - accepted version which has been peer reviewed but not typeset or copyedited
- Version of record (VoR) - typeset, copyedited, and published version
- Updated - adding supplementary data or making corrections to the file, or its retraction.
Version control is important for:
- traceability (following the development of the document),
- identifiability (connecting documents to decisions, contributions, contributors, and time),
- clarity (distinguishing between multiple versions of documents, and identifying the latest version),
- reduced duplication (removing out-of-date versions), and
- reduced errors (clearly indicating to readers which is the current version).
Find out more:
Journal Article Versions (JAV): Recommendations of the NISO/ALPSP JAV Technical Working Group (opens .pdf file)