Preprint Policy
1. General Provisions
The scientific journal Environment & Health supports the principles of Open Science, research transparency, and the timely dissemination of scientific findings.
The journal accepts manuscripts that have previously been made publicly available on dedicated preprint platforms (preprint servers).
A preprint is a preliminary version of a scholarly manuscript made publicly available before the completion of formal scientific peer review and publication in a journal.
Posting a manuscript on a preprint server is not considered prior journal publication and does not, in itself, constitute grounds for rejection.
Preprints do not replace independent scientific peer review. Posting a preprint does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted for publication.
This policy has been developed with reference to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and international best practices for the responsible dissemination of scientific findings.
2. Posting Manuscripts on Preprint Servers
Authors may make preliminary versions of their manuscripts publicly available on dedicated scientific platforms before submitting an article to the journal, at the time of submission, or during editorial consideration.
Such platforms may include:
- medRxiv – a preprint server for medical, public health, and related research.
- bioRxiv – a preprint server for the biological sciences.
- Preprints.org – a multidisciplinary preprint platform.
- Other scientific repositories that provide appropriate author identification, clearly indicate the non-peer-reviewed status of deposited materials, and, where possible, maintain a version history.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts comply with the subject-specific, ethical, and technical requirements of the selected platform, as well as its copyright and licensing conditions.
Posting a preprint does not exempt authors from complying with the journal's requirements concerning originality, scientific quality, research integrity, and publication ethics.
3. Authors' Responsibilities at Manuscript Submission
If a manuscript has previously been posted on a preprint server, the authors must disclose this information to the editorial office at the time of initial submission.
The Cover Letter must include:
- The name of the platform hosting the preprint.
- The date on which the preprint was first made publicly available.
- The preprint DOI, if available, or an active URL.
- Information about any other publicly available versions of the manuscript.
If a preprint is posted after submission to the journal but before a final editorial decision has been made, the authors must promptly notify the editorial office.
Where substantial scientific changes are made to a publicly available preprint, the authors must also inform the editorial office and provide a link to the relevant updated version.
Failure to disclose the existence of a preprint may be regarded as a violation of the journal's requirements for transparency in scholarly publishing.
4. Peer Review of Manuscripts Previously Posted as Preprints
The availability of a preprint does not alter the journal's scientific quality requirements and does not guarantee acceptance for publication.
All submitted manuscripts undergo the journal's standard editorial procedures, including:
- Initial screening for alignment with the journal's aims and scope.
- Research integrity screening.
- Independent scientific peer review.
- Editorial assessment of peer review reports.
- A final decision made by the Editor-in-Chief or another authorized editor who has no conflict of interest.
The journal employs double-blind peer review, in which the identities of authors are concealed from reviewers and the identities of reviewers are concealed from authors.
However, the public availability of a preprint may make it possible to identify the manuscript's authors. Consequently, complete author anonymity cannot be guaranteed.
This circumstance does not, in itself, constitute grounds for manuscript rejection. Editors and reviewers are required to uphold the principles of impartiality, confidentiality, and the prevention and management of conflicts of interest.
Further information: Peer Review Process.
5. Updating Preprint Versions During Editorial Consideration
Authors may update their own preprints provided that they comply with the rules of the relevant repository and the journal's policies. Confidential peer review reports, editorial correspondence, and reviewers' personal information must not be disclosed without appropriate authorization.
Authors may post updated versions of their preprints, including when revisions involve:
- Correction of identified errors.
- Clarification of the study methodology.
- Addition or correction of research findings.
- Improvement of statistical analyses.
- Clarification or refinement of scientific conclusions.
- Other scientifically justified changes to the manuscript's content.
Updates must be made transparently, with the document version and date of public posting clearly indicated.
Where possible, previous preprint versions should be retained, or access to the revision history should be provided.
Posting an updated version of a preprint must not result in the disclosure of confidential materials from the editorial process.
In particular, the following materials must not be made publicly available without appropriate authorization:
- Full peer review reports or confidential excerpts from them.
- Editorial correspondence.
- Reviewers' personal information.
- Internal editorial comments not intended for public disclosure.
- Other materials obtained through the confidential editorial process.
Authors may describe improvements made to their own research but must not imply that an updated preprint has already undergone peer review or received journal approval unless such a decision has actually been made.
Where a preprint is substantially updated during editorial consideration, authors must ensure that the current version of the manuscript submitted to the journal is consistent with the materials under editorial assessment or appropriately disclose any differences between versions.
6. Research Integrity and Ethical Requirements
Preprints must comply with generally accepted principles of research integrity and publication ethics.
Authors are responsible for:
- The reliability of research findings.
- Appropriate attribution of authorship and acknowledgment of co-authors' contributions.
- Disclosure of conflicts of interest and funding sources.
- Obtaining the necessary ethical approval and informed consent from research participants.
- Protecting personal and confidential data.
- Respecting copyright in texts, tables, figures, and other materials.
Particular attention is given to preprints reporting findings from medical, epidemiological, and public health research.
Findings that have not yet undergone independent scientific peer review must not be presented as definitively established scientific evidence or used as a basis for clinical or healthcare policy and management decisions without appropriate critical evaluation.
Where significant errors, violations of research integrity, or circumstances that may pose risks to public health are identified, authors must notify the relevant preprint platform and take the necessary steps to correct, appropriately label, or withdraw the material.
7. Citation of Preprints
The journal permits the citation of preprints in scholarly articles, provided that they are clearly identified and critically evaluated.
In the REFERENCES section, which must be prepared using the Latin alphabet and formatted according to the Vancouver style, authors must:
- Clearly identify the source as a Preprint.
- Specify the name of the preprint platform or repository.
- Indicate the year of public posting.
- Provide a DOI or a verified URL.
If the research has subsequently been published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, preference should generally be given to citing the final published version (Version of Record), where that version is the relevant source.
Authors must take into account the absence of completed independent peer review when interpreting findings reported in preprints.
Preprints must not be presented in the reference list as fully peer-reviewed journal publications.
8. Authors' Responsibilities Following Article Publication
Following publication of an article in Environment & Health, authors are encouraged to update the corresponding preprint record by adding:
- Complete bibliographic information about the published article.
- The journal title.
- The DOI of the final published version.
- An active link to the article on the journal's website.
The preprint and the final published journal article represent different versions of the scholarly work and must be clearly distinguished.
Where a DOI has been assigned to a preprint, that identifier remains separate from the DOI of the published journal article.
The relationship between the preprint and the final publication may be recorded in the relevant metadata, subject to the technical capabilities of Crossref and the repository.
Authors may disseminate the final published version of the article in accordance with its applicable licensing terms.
Further information: Licensing and Copyright.
9. Final Provisions
The journal supports the responsible use of preprints as a means of rapidly disseminating scientific findings, facilitating open scholarly discussion, and advancing international scientific communication.
Authors have the right to update their own preprints but are required to ensure transparent version management, appropriate notification of the editorial office, and the confidentiality of the editorial process.
Posting a preprint or an updated preprint version does not replace independent scientific peer review or exempt authors from complying with the journal's requirements.
The final decision to accept or reject a manuscript is made by the Editor-in-Chief or another authorized editor who has no conflict of interest, taking into account the manuscript's scientific quality, alignment with the journal's aims and scope, and the outcomes of editorial assessment and peer review.
International Guidelines and References
