Viewing Results for Electronic Theses & Dissertations: A Survey of Editors & Publishers

Instructions: EDITORS - please answer the questions using the journal identified in the cover email as your point of reference. PUBLISHERS / PUBLISHING COMMITTEE CHAIRS - please refer to policies governing the suite of journals published by your society, organization or company.

Q1. Please choose the appropriate answer to the following questions as a means of identifying participants in broad categories:
1A. My affiliation with the journal(s) identified in the email request for participation is as:

$20.37%\%$ Other (11/54 responses)

$3.7%\%$ Publisher (2/54 responses)

$75.93%\%$ Editor (41/54 responses)

100% of the people who took this survey
(48 / 48) answered this question.

Other Responses (11 for this question)

"Associate Editor"

"Editorial Director"

"in liaison with Publisher"

"other"( 5 ) responses

"Pubications Officer in Learned Society"

"Publications Chair"

"publications committee"

1B. The journal(s) identified is (are):

$72.73%\%$ Not-for-Profit (32/44 responses)

$27.27%\%$ For Profit (12/44 responses)

91.67% of the people who took this survey
(44 / 48) answered this question.

1C. The broad subject area(s) covered by the journal(s) are: (select as many as appropriate)

$6.48%\%$ Mathematics & Statistics (7/108 responses)

$10.19%\%$ Physics (11/108 responses)

$14.81%\%$ Life Sciences, Health and Medicine (16/108 responses)

$8.33%\%$ Engineering (9/108 responses)

$5.56%\%$ Environmental Studies (6/108 responses)

$5.56%\%$ Chemistry (6/108 responses)

$15.74%\%$ Biology & Biochemistry (17/108 responses)

$3.7%\%$ Psychology (4/108 responses)

$0.93%\%$ Social Sciences (1/108 responses)

$28.7%\%$ Other (31/108 responses)

100% of the people who took this survey
(48 / 48) answered this question.

Other Responses (31 for this question)

"Astronomy"

"Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence"

"Genetics"

"Hydrogeology"

"Information technologies"

"Marketing"

"mycology"

"Nuclear science"( 3 ) responses

"nutrition"

"other"( 14 ) responses

"Physiology & Biophysics"

"plant biology"( 2 ) responses

"Scientific computing"

"Solid State Chemistry"

"spectroscopy, physical sciences"

Q2. Traditionally, the submission of a manuscript for publication implies that the paper has not been published elswhere and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.
2A. Does the identified journal(s) have such a policy on prior publication and simultaneous submission in place?

$93.75%\%$ Yes - Proceed to Q 2B (45/48 responses)

$4.17%\%$ In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2B (2/48 responses)

$0%\%$ Don't know - thank you for participating in the survey (0/48 responses)

$2.08%\%$ No - thank you for participating in the survey (1/48 responses)

100% of the people who took this survey
(48 / 48) answered this question.

2B Is the policy specifically stated in the 'Guidelines to Contributors' or as a statement of Editorial Policy which is readily available to submitting authors?

$2.13%\%$ In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2C (1/47 responses)

$93.62%\%$ Yes - Proceed to Q 2C (44/47 responses)

$4.26%\%$ No - Proceed to Q3 (2/47 responses)

97.92% of the people who took this survey
(47 / 48) answered this question.

2C. Does the policy specifically refer to work which may have been made electronically accessible on the WWW?

$27.27%\%$ Yes - Proceed to Q 2D (12/44 responses)

$4.55%\%$ In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2D (2/44 responses)

$68.18%\%$ No - Proceed to Q 2E (30/44 responses)

91.67% of the people who took this survey
(44 / 48) answered this question.

2D. At what level was the policy set with respect to work accessible on the WWW?

$0%\%$ Don't know (0/28 responses)

$3.57%\%$ Publisher (1/28 responses)

$14.29%\%$ Editorial Board (4/28 responses)

$25%\%$ Parent Organization or Society (7/28 responses)

$0%\%$ Senior Editor (0/28 responses)

$25%\%$ Editor-in-Chief (7/28 responses)

$32.14%\%$ Other - please elaborate (9/28 responses)

50% of the people who took this survey
(24 / 48) answered this question.

Other Responses (9 for this question)

"Editorial Director"

"It is generally understood that publications on www are also in refereed print journals. You raise interesting question as to how we will deal with pre-published non-refereed science as in Pub Med Central."

"other"( 5 ) responses

"publications committee"

"Publications Committee, then ratified by Society council"

2E. Why has specific reference to Web-based publications NOT been mentioned in the policy?

$0%\%$ Don't know (0/43 responses)

$6.98%\%$ Manuscripts are handled on an individual basis with regard to this policy (3/43 responses)

$20.93%\%$ It is implied that the policy extends to Web-based publications (9/43 responses)

$27.91%\%$ Editorial policy has not yet been set on this issue (12/43 responses)

$44.19%\%$ Other - please elaborate (19/43 responses)

66.67% of the people who took this survey
(32 / 48) answered this question.

Other Responses (19 for this question)

"A paper must be removed from a personal website or web server at time of publication. The Journal's value to its readership and authors is its selectivity."

"Due to the newness of Electronic Publishing and the fact that our current primary medium is paper copy, this journal will accept articles that have previously appeared in part electronically, until such time as Electronic Publishing becomes the accepted medium."

"Editorial policy hasn't yet been set on this issue. To some extent we're still flexible. I feel that the policy relates to peer-reviewed publications only. Materials on the web like theses aren't there after international multi-refereed peer-review so I don't consider them to have any relevance to my journal (or at least the same relevance as printed theses in libraries)"( 3 ) responses

"Nonsense question in light of above answers"

"other"( 8 ) responses

"Policy has not yet been set by the organization that publishes the journal"

"Recent policy"

"The Council of Editors for the organization publishing a large number of journals has been debating an appropriate policy. We wish to have the copyright protection for articles that we publish but in any case, a dissertation or thesis usually must be substantially modified before acceptable for publication so a thesis or dissertation on the web is unlikely to compromise any policy we would set."

"The issue is confounded with copyright issues."

"UP TO EDITOR, AND I HAVEN'T GOTTEN AROUND TO IT YET"

Q3. According to the editorial policy governing the identified journal(s), which of the following would constitute 'prior publication' in electronic format?
3A. Please indicate by selecting as many as are applicable.

$29.79%\%$ Other - please elaborate (28/94 responses)

$6.38%\%$ Research results available on a personal homepage prior to peer-review (6/94 responses)

$20.21%\%$ Conference proceedings available through a web-based server (19/94 responses)

$19.15%\%$ None of the above (18/94 responses)

$2.13%\%$ All of the above (2/94 responses)

$12.77%\%$ Research results available through a pre-print server (i.e. Los Alamos) (12/94 responses)

$1.06%\%$ Online thesis or dissertation with access limited to campus or institution. (1/94 responses)

$8.51%\%$ Online thesis or dissertation widely available through a web-based archive (8/94 responses)

97.92% of the people who took this survey
(47 / 48) answered this question.

Other Responses (28 for this question)

"All of the above with the possible exception of the Conference Proceedings. If the Proceedings have been copyrighted we would regard this as prior publication, or if a fee is required to access it that would also be the case."

"Anything that has been peer-reviewed prior to pub'n"

"Conference proceedings if greater than 400 words"

"editor's discertion"

"If any of the above constitute documents that are essentially identical to the manuscript submitted, it would represent prior publication. If only a small portion of the results appear in the above, it would not be prior publication."

"If it were published in a peer reviewed journal, whether on line or in print or both"

"In plant taxonomy, our area of coverage, by International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, any thesis or dissertation in the United States is not considered a publication. Therefore, the original paper copy, Microfiche & other Microforms of the same are NOT considered publication. Thus by extension of the regulation, a Web version of the USA thesis or dissertation can not be considered a publication. Our journal would not consider it a publication. Plant taxonomists may actualll consider it a diservice to the student to place the thesis or dissertation on a Web site, since it has no taxonomic standing and will not have any standing for recognition as scientific publication."

"None - since none involves independent peer review"( 3 ) responses

"Not yet decided"

"other"( 12 ) responses

"Policy is currently being revised. Generally, if the information is fixed (and thus citable), it is considered prior publication. However, this decision is made on a case-by-case basis by the editor. Also, theses have never been considered a prior publication. So even though we don't have a formal policy, I would think that web accessible theses would not be considered prior publication."

"Publication in electronic form in another refereed journal."

"results published in (or submitted to) a refereed journal"

"The options ticked here may apply - our policy is to ask authors to declare such potential "prior" publication via these routes when they submit their articles and a decision as to whether this actually constitutes prior publication is made by the editors on a case by case basis"

"This is too restrictive a question. The problem occurs after copyright of successfully refereed submission. Early versions/publications can no longer be available. Thus, the 5 restrictions you list could apply."

3B. Does your personal opinion on this question differ in any significant way from the policy of the journal or society/organization? (If Yes, please elaborate)

Text Responses (30 for this question)

"As Editor in Chief, I have the strong opinion that it must be possible to submit papers prior to publication for example to a preprint server (which is common practice in physics). I have however not requested an explicit statement from my publishing company to this effect, since this would need a long discussion and probably a "no" from the lawyers."

"Can't tell since the policy is not yet clearly developed."

"I think the questions listed above miss the point. The phrase 'prior publication' has to be qualified with the phrase 'in a peer reviewed journal or other similar venue.'"

"No" - ( 15 responses)

"No, but this is a gray area and I will elaborate anyway. We do not recognize web based publications as formally published, and we do not permit authors to cite them in the literature cited. URLs may be given in the text. Since URLs frequently change, and since the text and/or illustrations may be altered over time, web-based publication does not constitute a stable form of publication that is citable as a reference."

"No, I don't think so." - ( 3 responses)

"NO, ONLY PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATION IS CONSIDERED AS PRIOR PUBLICATION. MUCH OF THE WEB BASED CONFERENCE LIT AND THESIS/DISSERTAION IS NOT CONSIDERED TO BE PEER REVIEWED"

"No." - ( 2 responses)

"No. This is not personal opinion. It is recognized internationally by the Plant Taxonomists & has been formalized in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, which regulates the recognition of new plant names or new combinations of plant names. The ICBN specifically mentions that US theses & dissertations are NOT considered publications."

"The relatively liberal policy is consisitent with discussions among the Editorial Board and the publisher."

"There are really two different issues here and I fear that you are confusing the two. One is what constitutes prior publication and one has to do with copyright. We allow web-based postings PRIOR to acceptance. But once a paper is accepted, copyright belongs to APA. At that point posting the work on the web constitutes a copyright violation and the work must be removed from the web."

"This issue has not been formally raised among the editors. I assume that it will not be a major issue, since published peer-reviewed papers tend to vary considerably from student theses on the same topic. The student's work tends to be a small part of the whole. If the senior investigator wants to cite the thesis for otherwise "unpublished" details, it is done explicitly in the paper."

"We are in the process of discussion this with the Publications Committee of our Society as well as with our Editorial Board."

Q4. Dissertations have traditionally been available IN PRINT on a limited basis, requiring that copies be obtained either through interlibrary loan requests or by purchasing copies from University Microforms International (UMI).
4A. According to the editorial policy governing the identified journal(s), under which circumstances would a manuscript derived from a PRINT dissertation be considered for publication?

$3.64%\%$ Only if the contents and conclusions in the manuscript were substantially different from the dissertation in print. (2/55 responses)

$23.64%\%$ Other - please elaborate (13/55 responses)

$52.73%\%$ Manuscripts derived from print dissertations would be welcome for submission. (29/55 responses)

$1.82%\%$ Under no circumstances. Research published as part of a dissertation would be considered 'prior publication', regardless of format. (1/55 responses)

$18.18%\%$ Manuscripts derived from print dissertations would be considered on an individual basis. (10/55 responses)

97.92% of the people who took this survey
(47 / 48) answered this question.

Other Responses (13 for this question)

"don't understand point"

"If the dissertaation was widely disseminated, it would be priot publication. If it was for "internal use" only, it would constitute prior publication"

"Manuscripts derived from, but not identical to, the thesis would be welcome."

"Manuscripts derives from print dissertations would be welcomed for submission. Assuming that the submission is a summary of the new research."( 3 ) responses

"other"( 5 ) responses

"See 3A"

"The dissertation may be written in format for publication to facilitate later publication. That is not important to the plant taxonomy editors."

4B. Does your personal opinion on this question differ in any significant way from the policy of the journal or society/organization? (If Yes, please elaborate)

Text Responses (26 for this question)

"I don't think so. Without adequate peer review (as guaranteed by professional journals) a research article is not really considered published, at least in mathematics."

"If they are DERIVED then they are different publications."

"No" - ( 16 responses)

"No, I don't think so." - ( 3 responses)

"No." - ( 4 responses)

"Not certain. I will forward you email on to the publisher (MCB)."

Q5. Current initiatives to make theses and dissertations accessible through web-based archives are receiving growing support. It is common practice to set the level of accessibility according to the wishes of the doctoral candidate, who may have concerns about subsequent publication opportunities.
5A. According to the editorial policy governing the journal(s) identified, under which circumstances would a manuscript derived from a WEB-BASED dissertation be considered for publication?

$18.87%\%$ Other - please elaborate (10/53 responses)

$47.17%\%$ Manuscripts derived from web-based dissertations would be welcomed for submission (25/53 responses)

$3.77%\%$ Under no circumstances. Manuscripts derived from research published as part of a dissertation would be considered previously published, regardless of format. (2/53 responses)

$5.66%\%$ Only if the contents and conclusions in the manuscript were substantially different from the dissertation (3/53 responses)

$18.87%\%$ Manuscripts derived from web-based dissertations would be considered on an individual basis (10/53 responses)

$5.66%\%$ Only if the online dissertation has access limited to the campus or institution where it was completed (3/53 responses)

$0%\%$ Under no circumstances. Manuscripts derived from research made widely availale via the WWW would be considered previously published. (0/53 responses)

97.92% of the people who took this survey
(47 / 48) answered this question.

Other Responses (10 for this question)

"& 4th choice from list"

"I can't speak for the publisher who has not yet set a policy"

"Manuscripts derived from web-based dissertations would be welcomed for submission. Exactly as for a print thesis, the empahsis is on independent multiple peer-review. Again I would welcome a specially written short version of any relevant thesis."( 3 ) responses

"other"( 2 ) responses

"Presently being evaluated"

"Same as above"

"See 3A"

5B Does your personal opinion on this question differ in any significant way from the policy of the journal or sociey/organization? (If Yes, please elaborate)

Text Responses (28 for this question)

""Derived" is important - the publication should not be identical to the web version!"

"I tend to view everything on the web, currently, as epheheral. I think published teses, in whatever form, are a useful elaboration and/or background, of some parts of published papers, but I would hesitate to cite a thesis as "prior work" without permission, since the paper in an archival journal is normally assumed to supercede the thesis."

"I view theses as a completely different form of publication. We expect that the results will eventually be published and do not discriminate against the student because the thesis is widely available. The main risk to the student is the fact that the results can be used by others, putting pressure on the student and mentor to get the important results into print as fast as possible. I think my views on this are quite consistent with others in my general field (biochem)."

"I would consider web-based publishing to be publishing since it is "broadcasting" information."

"No" - ( 16 responses)

"No." - ( 2 responses)

"No. I don't think so. N.B. In general, the publisher leaves editorial policy to me (editor-in-chief) and my colleagues on the editorial board." - ( 3 responses)

"Not Certain."

"Same as in 4B."

"The key issue is "derived from" I think that attempted publication without major revision would create problems. A related concern though is that our university allowsd dissertations to include articles that have been published or accepted for publication. So there is a reverse question of whether a student's dissertation that included previously published work that was placed on the web might be considered by the journal publisher as a copyright infringement. For a non-profit organization publisher like mine that is no problem but for Elsevier or Springer or Karger this could be a major issue. Will students find themselves being sued if their published work appears on the web as part of a dissertation?"

CONCLUSION: Thank-you for taking the time to contribute your valued opinions on this matter Your further participation would be most welcome at the upcoming "Third International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations: Applying New Media to Scholarship" to be held at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg from March 16-18th, 2000. The planning committee would like to organize a panel of publishers and editors to discuss the issues touched upon in the survey and other issues inherent in the complex environment of electronic scholarship. The Symposium webpage can be viewed at http://etd.eng.usf.edu/Conference/ If you are interested in contributing to the discussion at the Symposium, please contact me directly by email at jdalton@uwindsor.ca
Further Reading: A webpage titled "Publishers and the NDLTD" at http://www.ndltd.org may be of particular interest to survey participants who wish to read some early responses from the publishing community to the Electronic Theses & Dissertations initiative.

Other Responses (11 for this question)
"Associate Editor"
"Editorial Director"
"in liaison with Publisher"
"other"( 5 ) responses
"Pubications Officer in Learned Society"
"Publications Chair"
"publications committee"

Other Responses (31 for this question)
"Astronomy"
"Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence"
"Genetics"
"Hydrogeology"
"Information technologies"
"Marketing"
"mycology"
"Nuclear science"( 3 ) responses
"nutrition"
"other"( 14 ) responses
"Physiology & Biophysics"
"plant biology"( 2 ) responses
"Scientific computing"
"Solid State Chemistry"
"spectroscopy, physical sciences"

Other Responses (9 for this question)
"Editorial Director"
"It is generally understood that publications on www are also in refereed print journals. You raise interesting question as to how we will deal with pre-published non-refereed science as in Pub Med Central."
"other"( 5 ) responses
"publications committee"
"Publications Committee, then ratified by Society council"

Other Responses (19 for this question)
"A paper must be removed from a personal website or web server at time of publication. The Journal's value to its readership and authors is its selectivity."
"Due to the newness of Electronic Publishing and the fact that our current primary medium is paper copy, this journal will accept articles that have previously appeared in part electronically, until such time as Electronic Publishing becomes the accepted medium."
"Editorial policy hasn't yet been set on this issue. To some extent we're still flexible. I feel that the policy relates to peer-reviewed publications only. Materials on the web like theses aren't there after international multi-refereed peer-review so I don't consider them to have any relevance to my journal (or at least the same relevance as printed theses in libraries)"( 3 ) responses
"Nonsense question in light of above answers"
"other"( 8 ) responses
"Policy has not yet been set by the organization that publishes the journal"
"Recent policy"
"The Council of Editors for the organization publishing a large number of journals has been debating an appropriate policy. We wish to have the copyright protection for articles that we publish but in any case, a dissertation or thesis usually must be substantially modified before acceptable for publication so a thesis or dissertation on the web is unlikely to compromise any policy we would set."
"The issue is confounded with copyright issues."
"UP TO EDITOR, AND I HAVEN'T GOTTEN AROUND TO IT YET"

Other Responses (28 for this question)
"All of the above with the possible exception of the Conference Proceedings. If the Proceedings have been copyrighted we would regard this as prior publication, or if a fee is required to access it that would also be the case."
"Anything that has been peer-reviewed prior to pub'n"
"Conference proceedings if greater than 400 words"
"editor's discertion"
"If any of the above constitute documents that are essentially identical to the manuscript submitted, it would represent prior publication. If only a small portion of the results appear in the above, it would not be prior publication."
"If it were published in a peer reviewed journal, whether on line or in print or both"
"In plant taxonomy, our area of coverage, by International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, any thesis or dissertation in the United States is not considered a publication. Therefore, the original paper copy, Microfiche & other Microforms of the same are NOT considered publication. Thus by extension of the regulation, a Web version of the USA thesis or dissertation can not be considered a publication. Our journal would not consider it a publication. Plant taxonomists may actualll consider it a diservice to the student to place the thesis or dissertation on a Web site, since it has no taxonomic standing and will not have any standing for recognition as scientific publication."
"None - since none involves independent peer review"( 3 ) responses
"Not yet decided"
"other"( 12 ) responses
"Policy is currently being revised. Generally, if the information is fixed (and thus citable), it is considered prior publication. However, this decision is made on a case-by-case basis by the editor. Also, theses have never been considered a prior publication. So even though we don't have a formal policy, I would think that web accessible theses would not be considered prior publication."
"Publication in electronic form in another refereed journal."
"results published in (or submitted to) a refereed journal"
"The options ticked here may apply - our policy is to ask authors to declare such potential "prior" publication via these routes when they submit their articles and a decision as to whether this actually constitutes prior publication is made by the editors on a case by case basis"
"This is too restrictive a question. The problem occurs after copyright of successfully refereed submission. Early versions/publications can no longer be available. Thus, the 5 restrictions you list could apply."

Text Responses (30 for this question)
"As Editor in Chief, I have the strong opinion that it must be possible to submit papers prior to publication for example to a preprint server (which is common practice in physics). I have however not requested an explicit statement from my publishing company to this effect, since this would need a long discussion and probably a "no" from the lawyers."
"Can't tell since the policy is not yet clearly developed."
"I think the questions listed above miss the point. The phrase 'prior publication' has to be qualified with the phrase 'in a peer reviewed journal or other similar venue.'"
"No" - ( 15 responses)
"No, but this is a gray area and I will elaborate anyway. We do not recognize web based publications as formally published, and we do not permit authors to cite them in the literature cited. URLs may be given in the text. Since URLs frequently change, and since the text and/or illustrations may be altered over time, web-based publication does not constitute a stable form of publication that is citable as a reference."
"No, I don't think so." - ( 3 responses)
"NO, ONLY PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATION IS CONSIDERED AS PRIOR PUBLICATION. MUCH OF THE WEB BASED CONFERENCE LIT AND THESIS/DISSERTAION IS NOT CONSIDERED TO BE PEER REVIEWED"
"No." - ( 2 responses)
"No. This is not personal opinion. It is recognized internationally by the Plant Taxonomists & has been formalized in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, which regulates the recognition of new plant names or new combinations of plant names. The ICBN specifically mentions that US theses & dissertations are NOT considered publications."
"The relatively liberal policy is consisitent with discussions among the Editorial Board and the publisher."
"There are really two different issues here and I fear that you are confusing the two. One is what constitutes prior publication and one has to do with copyright. We allow web-based postings PRIOR to acceptance. But once a paper is accepted, copyright belongs to APA. At that point posting the work on the web constitutes a copyright violation and the work must be removed from the web."
"This issue has not been formally raised among the editors. I assume that it will not be a major issue, since published peer-reviewed papers tend to vary considerably from student theses on the same topic. The student's work tends to be a small part of the whole. If the senior investigator wants to cite the thesis for otherwise "unpublished" details, it is done explicitly in the paper."
"We are in the process of discussion this with the Publications Committee of our Society as well as with our Editorial Board."

Other Responses (13 for this question)
"don't understand point"
"If the dissertaation was widely disseminated, it would be priot publication. If it was for "internal use" only, it would constitute prior publication"
"Manuscripts derived from, but not identical to, the thesis would be welcome."
"Manuscripts derives from print dissertations would be welcomed for submission. Assuming that the submission is a summary of the new research."( 3 ) responses
"other"( 5 ) responses
"See 3A"
"The dissertation may be written in format for publication to facilitate later publication. That is not important to the plant taxonomy editors."

Text Responses (26 for this question)
"I don't think so. Without adequate peer review (as guaranteed by professional journals) a research article is not really considered published, at least in mathematics."
"If they are DERIVED then they are different publications."
"No" - ( 16 responses)
"No, I don't think so." - ( 3 responses)
"No." - ( 4 responses)
"Not certain. I will forward you email on to the publisher (MCB)."

Other Responses (10 for this question)
"& 4th choice from list"
"I can't speak for the publisher who has not yet set a policy"
"Manuscripts derived from web-based dissertations would be welcomed for submission. Exactly as for a print thesis, the empahsis is on independent multiple peer-review. Again I would welcome a specially written short version of any relevant thesis."( 3 ) responses
"other"( 2 ) responses
"Presently being evaluated"
"Same as above"
"See 3A"

Text Responses (28 for this question)
""Derived" is important - the publication should not be identical to the web version!"
"I tend to view everything on the web, currently, as epheheral. I think published teses, in whatever form, are a useful elaboration and/or background, of some parts of published papers, but I would hesitate to cite a thesis as "prior work" without permission, since the paper in an archival journal is normally assumed to supercede the thesis."
"I view theses as a completely different form of publication. We expect that the results will eventually be published and do not discriminate against the student because the thesis is widely available. The main risk to the student is the fact that the results can be used by others, putting pressure on the student and mentor to get the important results into print as fast as possible. I think my views on this are quite consistent with others in my general field (biochem)."
"I would consider web-based publishing to be publishing since it is "broadcasting" information."
"No" - ( 16 responses)
"No." - ( 2 responses)
"No. I don't think so. N.B. In general, the publisher leaves editorial policy to me (editor-in-chief) and my colleagues on the editorial board." - ( 3 responses)
"Not Certain."
"Same as in 4B."
"The key issue is "derived from" I think that attempted publication without major revision would create problems. A related concern though is that our university allowsd dissertations to include articles that have been published or accepted for publication. So there is a reverse question of whether a student's dissertation that included previously published work that was placed on the web might be considered by the journal publisher as a copyright infringement. For a non-profit organization publisher like mine that is no problem but for Elsevier or Springer or Karger this could be a major issue. Will students find themselves being sued if their published work appears on the web as part of a dissertation?"

http://lumiere.lib.vt.edu/surveys/results/view_results.php3
Generated at 04:43 pm on Monday, October 26th, 2015

	$20.37%\%$	Other	(11/54 responses)
	$3.7%\%$	Publisher	(2/54 responses)
	$75.93%\%$	Editor	(41/54 responses)
100% of the people who took this survey (48 / 48) answered this question.

	$72.73%\%$	Not-for-Profit	(32/44 responses)
	$27.27%\%$	For Profit	(12/44 responses)
91.67% of the people who took this survey (44 / 48) answered this question.

	$6.48%\%$	Mathematics & Statistics	(7/108 responses)
	$10.19%\%$	Physics	(11/108 responses)
	$14.81%\%$	Life Sciences, Health and Medicine	(16/108 responses)
	$8.33%\%$	Engineering	(9/108 responses)
	$5.56%\%$	Environmental Studies	(6/108 responses)
	$5.56%\%$	Chemistry	(6/108 responses)
	$15.74%\%$	Biology & Biochemistry	(17/108 responses)
	$3.7%\%$	Psychology	(4/108 responses)
	$0.93%\%$	Social Sciences	(1/108 responses)
	$28.7%\%$	Other	(31/108 responses)
100% of the people who took this survey (48 / 48) answered this question.

	$93.75%\%$	Yes - Proceed to Q 2B	(45/48 responses)
	$4.17%\%$	In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2B	(2/48 responses)
	$0%\%$	Don't know - thank you for participating in the survey	(0/48 responses)
	$2.08%\%$	No - thank you for participating in the survey	(1/48 responses)
100% of the people who took this survey (48 / 48) answered this question.

	$2.13%\%$	In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2C	(1/47 responses)
	$93.62%\%$	Yes - Proceed to Q 2C	(44/47 responses)
	$4.26%\%$	No - Proceed to Q3	(2/47 responses)
97.92% of the people who took this survey (47 / 48) answered this question.

	$27.27%\%$	Yes - Proceed to Q 2D	(12/44 responses)
	$4.55%\%$	In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2D	(2/44 responses)
	$68.18%\%$	No - Proceed to Q 2E	(30/44 responses)
91.67% of the people who took this survey (44 / 48) answered this question.

	$0%\%$	Don't know	(0/28 responses)
	$3.57%\%$	Publisher	(1/28 responses)
	$14.29%\%$	Editorial Board	(4/28 responses)
	$25%\%$	Parent Organization or Society	(7/28 responses)
	$0%\%$	Senior Editor	(0/28 responses)
	$25%\%$	Editor-in-Chief	(7/28 responses)
	$32.14%\%$	Other - please elaborate	(9/28 responses)
50% of the people who took this survey (24 / 48) answered this question.

	$0%\%$	Don't know	(0/43 responses)
	$6.98%\%$	Manuscripts are handled on an individual basis with regard to this policy	(3/43 responses)
	$20.93%\%$	It is implied that the policy extends to Web-based publications	(9/43 responses)
	$27.91%\%$	Editorial policy has not yet been set on this issue	(12/43 responses)
	$44.19%\%$	Other - please elaborate	(19/43 responses)
66.67% of the people who took this survey (32 / 48) answered this question.

	$29.79%\%$	Other - please elaborate	(28/94 responses)
	$6.38%\%$	Research results available on a personal homepage prior to peer-review	(6/94 responses)
	$20.21%\%$	Conference proceedings available through a web-based server	(19/94 responses)
	$19.15%\%$	None of the above	(18/94 responses)
	$2.13%\%$	All of the above	(2/94 responses)
	$12.77%\%$	Research results available through a pre-print server (i.e. Los Alamos)	(12/94 responses)
	$1.06%\%$	Online thesis or dissertation with access limited to campus or institution.	(1/94 responses)
	$8.51%\%$	Online thesis or dissertation widely available through a web-based archive	(8/94 responses)
97.92% of the people who took this survey (47 / 48) answered this question.

	$3.64%\%$	Only if the contents and conclusions in the manuscript were substantially different from the dissertation in print.	(2/55 responses)
	$23.64%\%$	Other - please elaborate	(13/55 responses)
	$52.73%\%$	Manuscripts derived from print dissertations would be welcome for submission.	(29/55 responses)
	$1.82%\%$	Under no circumstances. Research published as part of a dissertation would be considered 'prior publication', regardless of format.	(1/55 responses)
	$18.18%\%$	Manuscripts derived from print dissertations would be considered on an individual basis.	(10/55 responses)
97.92% of the people who took this survey (47 / 48) answered this question.

	$18.87%\%$	Other - please elaborate	(10/53 responses)
	$47.17%\%$	Manuscripts derived from web-based dissertations would be welcomed for submission	(25/53 responses)
	$3.77%\%$	Under no circumstances. Manuscripts derived from research published as part of a dissertation would be considered previously published, regardless of format.	(2/53 responses)
	$5.66%\%$	Only if the contents and conclusions in the manuscript were substantially different from the dissertation	(3/53 responses)
	$18.87%\%$	Manuscripts derived from web-based dissertations would be considered on an individual basis	(10/53 responses)
	$5.66%\%$	Only if the online dissertation has access limited to the campus or institution where it was completed	(3/53 responses)
	$0%\%$	Under no circumstances. Manuscripts derived from research made widely availale via the WWW would be considered previously published.	(0/53 responses)
97.92% of the people who took this survey (47 / 48) answered this question.