Reprints - The publishing process (How to deal with proofs)—and after publication - Publishing the paper

How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

Reprints
The publishing process (How to deal with proofs)—and after publication
Publishing the paper

Historically, authors received with their proofs a form for ordering hard-copy reprints of their articles. Older scientists remember the days—before widespread electronic access to journal articles, and indeed before widespread access to photocopying—when obtaining reprints from authors served as an important way to keep up with the literature. As well as giving researchers access to articles, reprint requests helped authors learn who was interested in their work (Wiley 2009). Today, however, reprints are much less a part of scientific culture.

Some journals make available “electronic reprints,” which allow authors to grant one-time electronic access to their articles. Someday, scientists may ask why articles that authors share are called reprints at all.