Only a few more steps to official publication:
- Prepare your manuscript for the final submission. Because it’s going into production, it needs to adhere to strict guidelines. These are outlined on the journal website (Author guidelines), and sometimes in the email from the editor.
- Prepare all figures in a high resolution (usually at least 300 dpi).
- Once the manuscript has been typeset by the production office (this can take a few days or a few weeks) you will receive the article proofs. Check them carefully and swiftly (you often only get 48 hours for this).
Page proofs are for typesetting only
You should check the page proofs for typo’s and typesetting errors. Attempting to make substantial changes like inserting new data or rewriting conclusions is not recommend (though small sentence changes tend to be accepted).
See Templates for a page proofs checklist.
Article processing fees
At this point, there may be a request to pay publication fees. The total amount depends on the journal and on the licensing agreement. Open access is the gold standard and if you’re in the EU, it might be mandatory, but there are some ways around it (e.g. sumitting the accepted manuscript to an institutional repository).
I’m not an expert on the intricacies of processing fees and open access standards, so if in doubt, ask your supervisor or librarian.
Publication
Once the page proofs (and payment) have been received), production will generate the final version, typically published online within days (Early Online) before formal issue assignment.
What does Early Online mean?
Some journals provide an Early Online option. This mean that the article is already available but doesn’t have a full citation with volume and page numbers yet (it does have a doi). This early online version can be a pre-proof or the final article. In any case, it’s accepted and available online, so you can share it with others.