At a glance

Preprints aimed at publication in an EGU journal

EGU established interactive public peer review in 2001 which has since been applied to almost all EGU journals. Before 2022, this process involved posting manuscripts as preprints on the journals' discussion forums for public peer review in the form of invited referee comments (RC), author comments (AC), editor comments (EC), and community comments (CC).

Since 2022, authors aiming at a public peer review of their manuscript for a possible acceptance and publication in EGU's topical journals have been enabled to decide whether their manuscript preprint is posted on EGUsphere with a co-listing in the journal's online library or still on the journal's discussion forum. For some journals, EGUsphere preprints are the only option. Similar as for the discussion forums, preprints on EGUsphere are open for community comments, author comments, and, as parts of peer review, for comments from referees and editors. After public discussion, peer-review completion and possible publication of a journal article takes place in the selected EGU topical journal. The EGUsphere preprint will remain on EGUsphere, in case of final journal publication also together with a link from the EGUsphere preprint to the journal's final article. EGUsphere preprints are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0). The review criteria, subject areas, manuscript types, and editors are applied as specified by the respective journal. Please study the corresponding EGU journal's website for details.

Preprints not (immediately) targeting journal publication

EGU provides the opportunity for geoscientists to post preprints on EGUsphere not targeting (immediate) publication in an EGU journal. Such preprints are screened by EGU preprint moderators before public posting to ensure that the content meets basic standards of scientific quality, adheres to conventional standards of civil discourse and common decency, and is neither unlawful nor abusive. The preprints are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0), are open to comments by the community (CC) and the authors (AC) for 5 years, and allow preprint updates by the authors. Submission to an EGU journal is still possible during the first year of this public discussion. In that case, a journal editor decides about the eligibility of the preprint to undergo an extended discussion with nominated referees and a subsequent peer-review completion with possible journal publication. The EGUsphere preprint remains on EGUsphere, with or without journal publication.

External preprints seeking publication in an EGU journal

If authors posted their preprint on a non-EGU preprint server and received a DOI, they can join EGUsphere if they intend to receive an interactive public peer review for possible publication in one of EGU's topical journals. Authors then register the preprint on EGUsphere and select a journal. After an eligibility check by a journal editor, the external preprint is linked from EGUsphere, opens on EGUsphere for public discussion with referees, and a subsequent peer-review completion in the respective EGU journal can lead to journal publication. While the preprint remains on its original source (the external preprint server), the public discussion remains archived on EGUsphere. Regarding the peer review process, review criteria, subject areas, manuscript types, and editorial handling are applied as specified by the respective journal. Please study the corresponding EGU journal's website for details.

EGUsphere avoids double preprinting

If authors already posted a preprint on a non-EGU preprint server, they can join the public discussion on EGUsphere to receive a public peer review and possible journal publication in one of EGU's journals, but they would join EGUsphere as so-called "external preprint" (see above) without additional posting of a new EGUsphere preprint and without assigning an EGUsphere DOI. If authors claim that the content of their preprint has been updated, the procedure depends on the level of adjustment: if the similarity of the contents between the posted non-EGUsphere preprint and the updated manuscript is greater than 60%, authors are required to update their preprint on the non-EGU preprint server, keep their original, non-EGUsphere DOI, and continue as "external preprint" (see above). However, if the similarity is less than 60%, the updated manuscript might qualify for the posting of an original EGUsphere preprint including EGUsphere DOI, if and when EGUsphere moderators or EGU journal editors accept the manuscript for preprint posting.

EGU's Code of Conduct

Participating in EGUsphere on abstracts, presentations, preprints, or commenting implies that anyone adheres to EGU's Code of Conduct.