Repository Policy
E-ISSN: 2640-2874 · Clear self-archiving permissions for authors and institutions
Purpose and Scope
Archives of Pathology and Clinical Research (APCR) supports the widest possible dissemination of research outputs. This policy explains what versions of your manuscript you may deposit, where and when you can deposit them, and what notices and metadata are required to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.
Which Versions You May Deposit
Manuscript Version | Definition | Where You May Deposit | When | Conditions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Preprint (Submitted version) | Author’s original version prior to peer review. | Preprint servers, institutional/subject repositories, personal or lab websites. | Anytime. | State that it is a preprint; include a note to update the record with the DOI upon publication. |
AAM (Author Accepted Manuscript) | Final author version after peer review, before publisher typesetting. | Institutional/subject repositories; funder repositories; personal or departmental sites. | Immediately upon acceptance. | Include a citation to the Version of Record (VoR) when available, plus license notice. |
VoR (Version of Record) | Publisher-formatted, copyedited, typeset article with final pagination/DOI. | Institutional/subject repositories; personal sites; teaching platforms. | Immediately upon publication. | Deposit the final PDF or canonical URL with full citation and license; do not remove journal branding or disclaimers. |
APCR imposes no embargo on self-archiving. Authors are encouraged to deposit the VoR wherever permitted to maximize discoverability.
Permitted Repository Locations
- Institutional repositories (university, hospital, research institute).
- Subject repositories in biomedical and life sciences.
- Funder-mandated repositories that require immediate open access deposit.
- Personal/group websites and professional networks that respect open licenses.
- Preprint servers for early dissemination and community feedback.
Required Notices and Citation
All deposits must contain the following elements to protect the version of record and ensure accurate attribution:
- Full citation including authors, article title, journal name (Archives of Pathology and Clinical Research), year, volume/issue, and page range (if applicable).
- Persistent identifiers — the article DOI and the canonical article URL.
- License statement — the Creative Commons license applied to the article.
- Version label — clearly indicate Preprint, AAM, or VoR.
- Change note — for preprints/AAMs, add: “This is not the version of record; the final published version is available at the DOI above.”
When depositing the AAM, retain author formatting but do not replicate the journal’s typeset layout or logos to avoid confusion with the VoR.
Minimum Metadata for Deposits
To enable indexing and accurate harvesting, include the following fields wherever your repository allows:
- Title; author names; affiliations; ORCID IDs (when available).
- Abstract; keywords; article type.
- DOI; publication year; volume/issue; pages or article number.
- Funding statement and grant identifiers when applicable.
- License URI and text (e.g., CC BY 4.0).
- Data availability statement with repository links and persistent identifiers for datasets/code.
Reuse Rights and Licenses
APCR publishes under open licenses that permit sharing and adaptation with attribution. Deposited versions must display the same license and credit line as the published article. Third-party content included in your article may carry different terms; ensure that permission or compatible licenses are documented and that captions/credit lines specify any restrictions.
Preprints and Version Linking
If you post a preprint, include the journal name upon submission and add the DOI immediately after publication. Where the preprint server supports it, link the preprint record to the VoR and update the license and citation to match the final article. When revising a preprint, preserve version history with clear date stamps.
Machine-Readable Open Access
For maximum interoperability, repositories should expose machine-readable metadata:
- Embed
<meta property="article:doi">
andschema.org
JSON-LD for article identifiers and licenses. - Include
license
URLs in metadata (e.g.,https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
). - Offer OAI-PMH endpoints and support for common export formats such as Dublin Core and DataCite.
Compliance With Funder and Institutional Mandates
Deposits to satisfy funder or institutional requirements are permitted immediately on acceptance (AAM) or publication (VoR). Authors are responsible for providing any required rights retention statements at submission and for depositing to designated portals where required by policy.
Preservation, Updates, and Corrections
The version of record is kept permanently available on the journal site. If you discover an error in a deposited version, update the repository record and, if the VoR is affected, contact the editorial office so that the published record can be corrected with an erratum or corrigendum as appropriate. Repository records should reflect the most recent status and link to any notices.
Good Practices for Authors and Librarians
- Use consistent author names and ORCID IDs to improve discovery.
- Deposit supplementary files (e.g., datasets, code, multimedia) in stable repositories with persistent identifiers.
- Ensure accessibility: provide alt text for images and structured headings in deposited PDFs/HTML.
- Retain original data and unprocessed images; be prepared to provide them upon request for verification.
Questions About Deposits?
For repository-specific requirements, bulk deposits, or metadata guidance, contact the editorial office:
Please include your manuscript ID or DOI, the repository name, and any funder mandate details.