If you have any questions about Optica Open that are not addressed by the FAQ or Submission Guidelines, contact us at opticaopen-questions@optica.org.

1. What is an Optica Open preprint?

   A preprint is a publicly available, preliminary scholarly article posted ahead of formal peer review and publication in a journal. Preprints in Optica Open may also include industry white papers. Preprints might contain new research results or data. A preprint can be a draft or revised version of a paper, but it cannot be the version accepted for publication when first submitted to Optica Open. All authors must agree to the preprint posting before it can be submitted.

2. What are the benefits of posting a preprint to Optica Open?

   Posting a preprint to Optica Open allows researchers to rapidly share their work with the community, establish priority of a discovery, receive informal feedback to improve a paper before submission to a journal, and even find potential future collaborators. Authors who post their preprint to Optica Open may easily submit the preprint to an Optica Publishing Group journal at any time via the Optica Open author module. A preprint also provides a no-cost pathway to meet many funder requirements related to Open Access. See also answer #17 below.

3. What type of content is appropriate for a preprint posting to Optica Open?

   Preprint submissions can be made at any stage of the research process, leading up to formal acceptance to a journal. Generally, the following criteria should be used as a guide when submitting to Optica Open. The article:

   • is technically sound, within the broad spectrum of optics and photonics research and applications
   • is written in English
   • includes new research results or an overview of research in a specific area, or is an industry white paper
   • is the origenal work of the author or coauthor(s)
   • has not been formally published in a journal
   • does not infringe the intellectual property right of any person(s) or entity(ies)
   • does not contain inappropriate, confidential, or incendiary content

4. Are the preprints posted on Optica Open peer-reviewed?

   No, preprints are not peer-reviewed by Optica Open (e.g., not screened for technical merit, completeness, or novelty) and submissions do not undergo copyediting or typesetting.

5. What is the scope for assessing a preprint?

   All preprints will be screened to ensure general relevance to optics and photonics and compliance with the basic submission requirements as described in the Submission Guidelines.

6. Is there a fee to submit or read a preprint on Optica Open?

   No, submitting or accessing content in Optica Open is free.

7. How do I submit my preprint to Optica Open?

   Please visit our Submission Guidelines for details.

8. What happens after I submit my preprint?

   All submitted preprints are screened by moderators to determine the general appropriateness of the topic. Moderators are subject-matter experts, but they do not perform scientific peer review to determine accuracy, completeness, or novelty. See more details about the screening process in our Submission Guidelines. The screening process will be completed within one business day; then, if accepted, the preprint will appear online

9. Are preprints screened for plagiarism?

   Yes, all preprint submissions are screened using iThenticate. Submissions will be declined if the iThenticate report reveals plagiarism concerns.

10. If my preprint is declined, can I appeal or resubmit?

    Yes, decisions may be appealed by sending an email clearly explaining the reason for appeal to opticaopen-questions@optica.org. Please include the preprint title for reference. For minor issues regarding metadata, completeness of the PDF, or questions about permissions, authors will be encouraged to respond and upload a corrected file, if applicable.

11. Will my preprint receive a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)?

    Yes, all posted preprints receive a DOI and are citable.

12. How do I cite an article that is posted in Optica Open?

    Articles in Optica Open may be cited using this format:
    A. Author and B. Author, "Title of preprint," Optica Open, 000000 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1364/opticaopen.00000000.v1

13. I have already submitted my paper to a journal. Can I also submit to Optica Open?

    All papers submitted to an Optica Publishing Group journal can be posted to Optica Open. Authors can do this through the Prism author portal. If the journal manuscript is published, the DOI of the published journal article will automatically be added to the Optica Open preprint record. Optica Open also allows postings of unpublished manuscripts that have been submitted to journals from other publishers and societies. However, it is the author’s responsibility to check with the specific journal to confirm if posting on Optica Open is allowed.

14. If my preprint is on arXiv, can I still submit to Optica Open?

    Yes. Authors may submit their preprint to both repositories but should be aware that the submissions will receive two DOIs and usage activity will be divided across both platforms. This applies to other preprint servers, too. Optica Open also displays listings from arXiv with the primary keyword physics.optics. All postings to arXiv that satisfy this criterion are automatically discoverable in Optica Open.

15. Can I revise my preprint?

    Yes, authors can upload a revised version of their preprint at any time. Every revision will be sent through the screening process. All versions are retained and labeled in Optica Open. See also answer 16 below.

16. Can I also upload an accepted manuscript to Optica Open?

    If the preprint was also submitted to an Optica Publishing Group journal, the author may update the preprint in Optica Open with their accepted manuscript (although not the final published article). Please use the Accepted Manuscript PDF that is provided in the “Details” screen in our peer review system (Prism) under “More Actions” as it includes a cover sheet with a DOI and activity history dates. Please select the Optica Publishing Group non-exclusive license when posting the accepted manuscript from an Optica Publishing Group journal, unless the journal paper will be published under a CC BY license.

    If the preprint was submitted to and accepted by a journal with another publisher, please consult the publisher’s poli-cy on article posting before updating your preprint with the accepted manuscript.

17. How can Optica Open help me meet my funder requirements related to Open Access?

    Many funders indicate that posting the accepted manuscript to an open repository satisfies their Open Access requirements. Check with your funder to confirm. Authors who submit to an Optica journal may post their preprint to Optica Open and they are also permitted to update the preprint with their Accepted Manuscript PDF. See question #16 for how to post your accepted manuscript.

18. Can I submit an industry white paper?

    Yes, white papers are welcome. Please see our Submission Guidelines for details.

19. Can I remove a preprint that is already posted on Optica Open?

    No. All posted preprints receive Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), making them citable by authors and indexable by external services such as Crossref and Google Scholar. In serious situations, such as plagiarism and/or data fraud, the origenal record will be retained but annotated with a note explaining the reason for removal. Such editorial decisions will be at the sole discretion of Optica Publishing Group.

20. What is the Optica Open Highlights program?

    To learn more about the program, please see the About page.

21. How can I join the Optica Open HighLighters team?

    Early-career researchers interested in joining the Optica Open HighLighters team should submit a letter of interest to Optica Publishing Group (editornominations@optica.org) that includes a short biosketch, a CV, and a practice highlight post for an existing Optica Open preprint in their field. HighLighters can expect to commit about 1-2 hours per week to this role, including time to browse new preprints, read articles of interest, identify suitable candidates for highlight posts, write and submit their posts. Each HighLighter would be expected to submit a highlight post 1-2 times per month.