The phenomenon of pre-publication of research results is becoming common in some areas of science and several dedicated sites are available to authors who wish to establish priority for their data. The Editors of OLEB have become aware that an increasing fraction of manuscripts submitted to the journal have also been posted on web-sites such as arXiv or Nature Precedings prior to submission. While the desire of some authors to establish priority for their research results is understandable, the Editors of OLEB wish to discourage the abuse of this practice. We are thus establishing a clear policy regarding submission to the journal.

Effective immediately, submitted manuscripts which are identical to online manuscripts will not be considered for publication. While the posting of a preliminary version of the manuscript will not necessarily disqualify it from being considered, the existence of a pre-posted version will be taken into account in evaluating whether or not the paper is suitable for submission, and submissions to OLEB should include links to or copies of previously posted versions of the material. Acceptability for submission assumes that manuscripts have not been submitted or published elsewhere in significantly duplicative form.