IfA Preprint System

If you are in the happy position of having written a paper, then please try to follow the following procedure.

  1. Internal refereeing. This is not obligatory, but it is a good thing if papers receive some unbiased scrutiny before going to a journal, particularly for inexperienced authors. Adrian Webster continues to offer this service to all ROE authors.

  2. Publication database. It is vital to have a record of all the papers Edinburgh produces. The University has a database into which all University and ROE papers will go. Nathalie Dupin will be in charge of entering this information. As soon as you submit the paper, give Liz a copy of the title page. When the paper appears, make sure you communicate the final reference to Liz.

  3. Paper preprints. There is a small residual mailing list for these, of about 35 institutions. Authors are encouraged to send extra personal copies to relevant researchers in the field of their paper. Copying and distribution will now be handled by Dorothy Skedd. Give her a top copy in some compact format (i.e. not double-spaced), saying how many extra copies you want for personal use (15 will be the default if you don't say). Dorothy can tell you which institutes will still get mailings.

  4. Electronic preprints. Despite saving on postage, we still want people to read our stuff. The (almost) global standard is arXiv, and ROE authors are strongly encouraged to submit to this. Not only does it get your papers seen by people who won't read MNRAS, you also get to see most of the important new results 6 months or more before they appear in a journal.

  5. A last general comment. It is a matter of individual conscience whether or not you post a paper on the web before or after it is refereed. However, the paper copy should be final: paper preprints should only be sent out once the paper concerned is accepted by a reputable journal (excepting conference articles, clearly). Please make sure that the preprint always says at the top of the first page what journal it's going to.


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IfA webmasters:
Eric Tittley (ET x366) ert
Jason Cowan (R11 x305) webmaster