Guidelines for Authors and Press Officers

Why embargo articles? Our embargoes enable authors to achieve accurate, high-quality media coverage which disseminates their peer-reviewed research to non-expert readers. They ensure that peer-reviewed published articles are accessible to everyone when first reported in the media

Talking about research under embargo: We wish to encourage communication between scientists. For that reason, authors may communicate research for scientific purposes prior to publication – when an embargo will apply. This includes talking about your research at conferences, on social media, and on preprint servers.

Once your research has been accepted and assigned a publication date, it is subject to embargo. You may discuss your research under embargo with journalists and other members of the media, and you should inform journalists of the embargo in all your communications. We discourage actively seeking publicity for your research before that point. If you do choose to discuss your research at the preprint stage, you should stress that your work is still undergoing peer review and you may not disclose the journal where the work is under consideration.

Social media embargoes: We recognize that blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and many other social media sites are powerful tools in information dissemination. If you choose to blog about or promote your accepted manuscript via social media, please wait until the embargo lifts and include a link to your article. If you choose to discuss research at the preprint stage, you should stress that your work is still undergoing peer review and you may not disclose the journal where the work is under consideration.