May USGS authors use preprint servers to distribute their journal manuscripts prior to Bureau approval and journal publication? [086]

No. A preprint is an author’s original version of a scholarly or scientific paper that is posted publicly and precedes peer review and subsequent publication in a scholarly or scientific journal. USGS requires interpretive scientific information products receive peer review and Bureau approval before dissemination to the public (SM 502.4). For example, products that meet this USGS requirement may also be referred to by the Bureau as the "accepted manuscript" and is the same content as that of the journal publication. Because preprints, which are first (or early) drafts of a manuscript, do not meet this review and approval requirement, preprint servers may not be used by USGS scientists to distribute their unapproved journal manuscripts. Conversely, Bureau approved manuscripts may be posted to preprint servers. Note that if substantive changes are made after approval, it is the author’s responsibility to obtain additional review by the approving official. Additionally, if USGS funded data support the scholarly conclusions of a manuscript posted on a preprint server, the data must be released in accordance with SM 502.8 requirements. If changes are required of the data, as a result of subsequent review processes, the data must go through the process described in FSP Versioning Guidance.