Jxiv Submission Guidelines

March 24, 2022
Revised March 28, 2024

These guidelines stipulate submission and distribution as part of the Jxiv submission policies, separate from the Jxiv Submission Terms, and have the same binding effect on Submitters as the Jxiv Submission Terms. Submitters and authors must submit Preprints (a draft work, such as a paper) and Preprint Data (the digital files that are publicly available online including the original manuscript and its associated data) according to these guidelines. These guidelines are subject to change at JST’s sole discretion.

Manuscripts submitted to Jxiv may be related to any scientific field, including natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences, and should be written in Japanese or English.

There is no charge for submitting or processing an article, and the Preprint and Preprint Data are made publicly available free of charge on Jxiv.

If you have any questions about submitting to Jxiv, please refer to the Jxiv Submission Manual and Jxiv FAQ before contacting us. If the question is still not answered, please contact us by email at preprint@jst.go.jp. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted under any circumstances. If you have any inquiries regarding the Preprints and Preprint Data that you have submitted, please use the Discussion field of the Jxiv submission system.

1. Before you submit
1-1 Check the journal’s Submission Policies

Before submitting your manuscript to Jxiv, please carefully check the submission rules of the journal that you have already submitted or intend to submit. Some journals do not accept manuscripts that have been shared as preprints, while some journals do not specify in their submission policies whether preprints are accepted or not.

Domestic journals that accept manuscripts distributed publicly on Jxiv and other preprint servers are listed below.

https://jxiv.jst.go.jp/index.php/jxiv/announcement/view/4

*In addition to the journals listed above, there are other journals that accept manuscripts, which have been available as preprints. Please make sure to check the submission rules of the journal you intend to submit.

1-2 Submission of manuscripts that have already made publicly available, and have peer-review comments reflected in journals

Submission to Jxiv may be permitted in the following cases:

・If the journal clearly states in its submission policy that the submission is allowed.

・If the Submitter has contacted the journal to which they intend to submit and obtained permission.

1-3 Submitting to other preprint servers

Manuscripts that have already been submitted or publicly distributed on other preprint servers cannot be submitted to Jxiv. You cannot submit your manuscript to another preprint server at the same time as submitting it to Jxiv, or after submitting it to Jxiv and before it is made public. However, this is not applicable after it is made public on Jxiv.

1-4 Submission of translations

Translations of papers that have already been published in journals or preprint servers (hereinafter referred to as "Original Work") cannot be submitted to Jxiv. However, the Translated Work may be posted to Jxiv only if it meets all of the following conditions, including: all authors of the Translated Work are exactly the same as those of the Original Work; the copyright owner's permission has been obtained (see 1-4-1); the content of the Translated Work is faithful to the Original Work (see 1-4-2); the Preprint is a Translated Work; and, the bibliographic information of the original is clearly stated on the title page of the Translated Work.

When submitting a Translated Work to Jxiv, please clearly indicate that it is a Translated Work in the "Declaration/Presentation to Jxiv administrator" field of the submission system. This statement shall be deemed to be a declaration to JST that the Preprint is a Translated Work. A translation declaration is also required if the Original Work is made public on Jxiv. Even if the manuscript is a Translated Work, it will not be accepted unless this is clearly stated in the "Declaration/ Presentation to Jxiv administrator" field.

1-4-1 License and copyright for submission

All Submitters of the Translated Work, regardless of the copyright license status of the Original Work, must obtain permission from journals or the other preprint servers for submitting to Jxiv. After submitting, the Submitter will be asked to provide proof of the permission from the current copyright holder of the Original Work by Jxiv administrator. Therefore, the Submitter must promptly present documentation of permission obtained in advance in PDF format. If the Original Work is a preprint and the server's terms of use include a statement that allows the Translated Work to be published elsewhere, it is acceptable to present the relevant part of the terms of use in PDF format.

Submitters must obtain the following permission from the publisher of the Original Work before submitting a Translated Work.

・"Permission to publish the Translated Work on preprint servers without screening for translation accuracy" issued by the journal in which the Original Work is published, or

・"Permission to publish the Translated Work on another preprint server" issued by the preprint server that made public of the Original Work.

1-4-2 Faithfulness in translation

The Translated Work must faithfully reflect the content of the Original Work, including data and interpretation. If a translator intentionally alters the content, adds data, or mistranslates (including unintentionally), it cannot be deemed to be faithful to the Original Work. It is the sole responsibility of the Submitter to ensure faithfulness to the Original Work, while JST is not liable for the faithfulness in translation.

1-4-3 Language of the translation

There are no restrictions on the language of the Original Work, but Translated Works submitted to Jxiv must be in Japanese or English.

1-4-4 Period to submit a translation

Submitters should be aware that translations are derivative works. Some journals may have regulations regarding the duration from publication of the Original Work to submission and publication of the Translated Work. Therefore, it is important for the Submitter to coordinate with the original publisher to determine the appropriate time to make public the Translated Work on Jxiv.

2. Account registration

To submit Preprints and Preprint Data to Jxiv, you are required to obtain a Jxiv account. To begin registration, you must have a researchmap account or an ORCID account. When creating a Jxiv account, you should register your identification information in both Japanese and English (if you are unable to enter it in Japanese, please enter it in English), and for the organizational affiliation, please enter it till the department (or an equivalent of department).

3. Submission and screening process

To submit a Preprint, please log in to the Jxiv submission system using your researchmap account or ORCID account, then upload your manuscript, and finally input the bibliographic information. Jxiv requires that the submission should be created in PDF format (hereinafter referred to as "Preprints (PDF)"). In addition, you should prepare your manuscript in Japanese or English.

When submitting, it is necessary to input the bibliographic information to the Jxiv submission system as described in 3-1, and to enter the information in the Preprint (PDF) as described in 3-2. Please make sure that the bibliographic information registered in the Jxiv submission form exactly matches the information listed in the Preprint (PDF).

If you wish to correct the bibliographic information displayed on the Jxiv page after distribution, please follow the revision procedures in Section 5.

3-1 Bibliographic information in the Jxiv submission system

The bibliographic information to be filled out in the Jxiv submission system includes the title, abstract, keywords, names (first and last name) of all authors along with their e-mail addresses, country names, and institutional affiliations (till department or an equivalent of department). Please note that author’s email address and country name will not be displayed publicly on the Jxiv page.

The location and language in which to enter bibliographic information will differ depending on the language of the Preprint being submitted and the language displayed on the Jxiv page. Please enter the required information according to the Table.

When submitting a Japanese Preprint, please enter the title, keywords, and the names and affiliations (till department or an equivalent of department) of all authors in both Japanese and English. For abstract, it is optional to enter it in English or only in Japanese.

When submitting an English Preprint, inputting in Japanese is optional. If you choose to use only the English input field, bibliographic information will be displayed in English even on Jxiv's Japanese page. If you want to display bibliographic information in Japanese on the Jxiv’s Japanese page, you must enter in both English and Japanese.

Additionally, in the process of entering bibliographic information, Submitters must select a Creative Commons license for their content and provide a declaration of conflicts of interest.

When entering author names in the Jxiv submission system, please enter all author names exactly in the order they appear on the Preprint (PDF). Author names will be publicly distributed as bibliographic information in the order they are entered.

The reference information entered in the Jxiv submission system will be publicly available as bibliographic information, so be sure to enter it accurately.

When submitting a Translated Work, please notify us that the manuscript is a Translated Work by entering the fact that it is a Translated Work in the "Declaration/Presentation to Jxiv administrator" field.

3-2 Essential title page information in Preprint (PDF)

The bibliographic information in the Preprint (PDF) should include the title, names of all authors and their affiliations (till department or an equivalent of department) while indicating the corresponding author’s name alongside the contact details, abstract, keywords, references. The required information is shown in the following table. The corresponding author and her/his email address are listed only in the Preprint (PDF) and are not displayed as bibliographic information on the Jxiv page.

In the case of a Translated Work, please be sure to clearly indicate that it is a Translated Work and the bibliographic information of the Original Work at the beginning of the Preprint (PDF).

In the case of research results funded by public research funds, we recommend that you clearly state the public research funding acquisition information (funding institution name, project name, and systematic number (proposal number, etc.)) in the acknowledgments.

3-3 Creation and upload of Preprint (PDF)

Please upload the Preprint (PDF) created as one PDF file. In addition to the required items listed in the table above, the manuscript must include appropriately prepared sections, figures, tables, reference, acknowledgments, and other content necessary to compose a research article.

3-4 Format and size of Preprint (PDF)

PDF must be provided in a format that allows text extraction. There is no specific format exclusive to Jxiv. Submitters should prepare manuscripts that comply with the standard style for submission to journals, etc. File size cannot exceed 20 MB. When uploading a Preprint (PDF), you will be asked to enter a display name (“Galley Label”) for the file, please enter "PDF".

3-5 Upload of supplemental files

Jxiv accepts ancillary materials in support of research articles submitted. Supplemental files can be provided in Microsoft Word or LaTeX format. Such ancillary files might include supplemental data (in any file format), and figures and tables that you wish to present as a supplement to the figures and tables presented in the Preprint (PDF). You can optionally attach up to 20 files (free file format), with a maximum file size of 20 MB per file. When uploading supplemental data, you will be asked to enter a display name for the file. As a rule, file names are created by entering the file format after "Supplement", such as "Supplement_WORD", "Supplement-1_LaTeX", or "Supplement-2_JPEG".

Even if you wish to submit supplemental data, please be sure to upload the Preprint (PDF) first. You can change the order of these two types of files on the file upload page.

3-6 Screening

All manuscripts submitted to Jxiv are subject to moderation. The contents of the Preprint (PDF) and Preprint Data will be evaluated to see if they meet the requirements of the Jxiv Submission Terms (https://jxiv.jst.go.jp/jxiv_docs/en/Jxiv_submission_terms_en.pdf). Only submissions that are determined to be appropriate for publicly available will be distributed. During the screening process, submitted content will be checked for at least the following aspects, including, (1) it is in an appropriate format as a research article; (2) it is of scholarly archival interest for the category represented; (3) there are no potential legal or ethical concerns; and (4) if there is plagiarized content or serious misrepresentation of data. If necessary, the manuscript may be escalated for consideration in the screening process.

Translated submissions undergo the same basic screening as any other type of submission. Only those deemed appropriate in terms of content may be made public. Please note that even if the Original Work has already been published in a journal, the Translated Work may not be publicly available on Jxiv depending on the screening results.

Preprints and Preprint Data are typically displayed publicly on Jxiv within 48 hours of posting (excluding JST holidays). If there are many submissions and it takes longer for the screening process, or if there are issues with the content that need extra scrutiny, it may take more than 48 hours. Please note that the Jxiv administrator may request authors to modify the manuscript and the bibliographic information, in which case the 48-hour distribution schedule will be recalculated from the resubmission date to the release date.

3-7 Errors and/or omissions of the required items

If the Jxiv administrator determines that corrections are necessary prior to screening, such as registration errors in the Jxiv submission system or omissions of items that should be contained in the Preprint (PDF), we will contact the authors to request corrections using the “Discussion” field of the Jxiv submission system. In this case, the Submitter should use the “Discussion” field to notify us that the changes are complete.

3-8 Contact from JST

JST usually contacts the Submitter, but if the Submitter and corresponding author are different, JST may contact the corresponding author. In special cases, we may also contact other authors.

4. Making public available of the Preprint

4-1 Distribution

Preprints and Preprint Data are made publicly available on Jxiv as they are uploaded by the Submitter. JST will not process or edit them in any way (except for withdrawal). Readers may freely download the article and supplemental data and reuse them under the Creative Commons license chosen by the Submitter. Once an article has been made public, it cannot be unsubmitted or deleted from the system even if you wish to modify it. Whatever modifications you make, you will need to follow the revision instructions in Section 5 after the work is made public on Jxiv.

4-2 Unsubmission before the distribution

If a submission has not yet been made public, the Submitter may have it unsubmitted by submitting an enquiry through the "Discussion" field of the Jxiv submission system. In this case, the information of the unsubmitted Preprint will not be displayed publicly on Jxiv.

However, once the article has been distributed, it cannot be deleted from the system for any reason.

5. Revised versions

5-1 Revision cases

If an author needs to update the article and associated bibliographic information after distribution on Jxiv, it is not possible to make changes by overwriting it. You should create a new version while the previous version remains accessible. Revision procedures are required not only when modifying the manuscript, but also when correcting bibliographic information such as author names and references, as well as when correcting or adding supplemental data.

Jxiv does not allow revisions after a Preprint has been accepted or published by a journal. Additionally, authors cannot submit a revised version that includes changes made in response to peer review by the journal or improvements recommended by the editor.

However, if the journal clearly states in its submission terms that it allows the submission of revised versions of accepted and published manuscripts or manuscripts that reflect peer review comments, and if the Submitter has contacted the journal to which they intend to submit and obtained permission, authors may create a revised version of their manuscript on Jxiv that has been accepted/published by the journal or that reflected peer review comments. On the other hand, some journals may prohibit a manuscript being made publicly available on preprint servers after it has been accepted/published or revised based on peer reviewer comments. Be sure to check with the journal and obtain any necessary permissions before making any revisions.

5-2 Submission of revised versions

Only the Submitter can create the revised version of the Preprint. If you create a revised version, the reason for the revision must be entered in the Jxiv submission system (in both English and Japanese for Japanese Preprints). When uploading a revised version of the Preprint (PDF) or supplemental data, the display name of the file must specify the file name and version (if there are multiple supplements, clearly indicate them as Supplement-1, Supplement-2), such as PDF_ver.2, Supplement_WORD_ver.2, Supplement-1_MP4_ver.3, and Supplement-2_PPTX_ver.3. When you upload the new version, please delete the old version (this action does not actually remove the old version from Jxiv’s submission database).

The Submitter should enter the bibliographic information, including the reasons for the revision, in the Jxiv submission system. Once you have completed submitting the revised Preprint (PDF) or supplementary data, please notify us of the completion of the revision using the discussion function of the Jxiv submission system. At the time of notification is submitted, the revision cannot be changed anymore.

5-3 Version management and public availability

Even if multiple versions are generated due to revisions, all versions are under the same DOI as the Original Work.

After distribution, all versions of the manuscripts and supplemental data cannot be deleted or made privately available at the request of the Submitter or authors for any reason. All previous versions of the article will remain publicly available and accessible, even if there are revisions of the manuscript.

If a revised version is generated, the revision date/time and the reason will be displayed publicly as bibliographic information on the Jxiv page.

There is no limit to the number of versions.

5-4 Screening of the revised version

The Revised version of the Preprint and supplemental data is subject to a basic screening by JST, in the same way as the original manuscript, to ensure whether the content meets the Jxiv submission requirements. Only revised versions that are determined to have no problems will be released. Revised versions are typically displayed publicly on Jxiv within 48 hours of submitting (excluding JST holidays).

6. After published in a journal

6-1 After published in a journal

After a Preprint is accepted/published by a journal, all versions of the Preprint and Preprint Data will not be deleted or made private but remain publicly available in open access permanently as a pre-peer-review manuscript.

The copyright notice of the Preprint is irrevocable and cannot be changed after the article is published in a journal. Additionally, once a CC license is selected for the Preprint manuscript, it is irrevocable and cannot be changed under Creative Commons regulations.

6-2 Adding a link to the published version

If a Preprint is published in a journal, the Submitter must add a link to the published version in the Jxiv submission system. The link is created based on the DOI of the published version. When registering a link, please enter it from https, such as https://doi.org/xxxxx. Prefixing the DOI with https://doi.org acts as a URL.

7. Withdrawal

7-1 Withdrawal

JST may withdraw a Preprint or Preprint Data if it determines that the Submitter, or content of the Preprint or Preprint Data does not meet the requirements set forth in the Submission Terms or these guidelines after distribution. When making such decisions, we follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines). The decision to withdraw a Preprint is made solely by JST.

Submitters and/or authors may request JST to withdraw their Preprints. After receiving your request, JST will consider it, but will not necessarily withdraw the Preprint as requested.

JST may notify Submitters and authors of the withdrawal but will not ask for their consent.

7-2 Bibliographic information of the withdrawal

The withdrawn Preprint will be made public as is, but JST will revise the title page of the article to clearly indicate that it has been withdrawn. If the Preprint has multiple versions due to revisions or contains supplemental data, all versions of the Preprint and the supplemental data will be revoked. All bibliographic information will be publicly displayed clearly indicating that it has been withdrawn, the date and time of withdrawal, and the reason. JST will prepare the reason for withdrawal.

7-3 Resubmission of the withdrawal

Revised versions of the withdrawn Preprint are not permitted.

The same Submitter or author is not prohibited from resubmitting a withdrawn manuscript as a new Preprint with all the reasons for withdrawal corrected.

In that case, the withdrawn Preprint will remain publicly available, and if a new Preprint is made publicly available on Jxiv, it will be assigned a different DOI to the withdrawn Preprint.

7-4 Suspension of submissions

If JST determines that the content of the Preprint and Preprint Data does not meet the Submission Terms or the provisions of these guidelines and is therefore inappropriate for public distribution, JST will withdraw the Preprint and suspend further submission. JST makes the sole decision to suspend the Preprint.

If a Preprint is removed and is no longer publicly available, all versions of the Preprint and supplemental data will be removed and no longer available for access or download. However, all bibliographic information will remain publicly available with a clear indication that it has been removed, the date and time of the removal, and the reason. JST will create the reason for the submitting suspension. Preprints whose submission has been suspended may not be modified and resubmitted to Jxiv as a new Preprint.

8. Citation

Please refer to the following example when citing Jxiv preprints.

Kasuke Kagaku, Sakura Gijutsu, and Sabumi Kikou. 2022. JST starts operation of Preprint server Jxiv. Jxiv, doi: https://doi.org/10.51094/jxiv.xxx

Kasuke Kagaku, Sakura Gijutsu, and Sabumi Kikou. 2022. JST starts operation of Preprint server Jxiv. Jxiv, doi: https://doi.org/10.51094/jxiv.xxx, version 2

科学香助、技術さくら、機構佐文 2022. JSTのプレプリントサーバJxivの運用開始. Jxiv, doi: https://doi.org/10.51094/jxiv.xxx

科学香助、技術さくら、機構佐文 2022. JSTのプレプリントサーバJxivの運用開始. Jxiv, doi: https://doi.org/10.51094/jxiv.xxx, version 2