Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A researcher uploads their AAM -- the Word or LaTeX file as accepted by the editor, with reviewer-requested changes incorporated -- to their institutional repository, in compliance with a funder's green open access mandate.
- Is an instance
A 'camera-ready' manuscript prepared in the journal's own template, before it receives publisher pagination, still counts as an AAM.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A PDF with the journal's final page numbers, volume, and issue number is the version of record (or a proof), not an AAM.
- Not an instance
A manuscript shared before peer review, with no publisher acceptance decision attached, is a preprint, not an AAM.
Editorial commentary
The author accepted manuscript (AAM) is the version of a manuscript that a publisher has formally accepted for publication, after peer review and any reviewer-requested revisions, but before the publisher has typeset, copy-edited, or paginated it. It is distinguishable from the final published version because page numbers, volume, and issue number are absent, and its layout still follows the author’s or journal’s submission template rather than the publisher’s house style.
Where it sits in the version chain
The journal article versions (JAV) scheme names each stage a manuscript passes through. An AAM prepared in a journal-supplied template (a ‘camera-ready’ manuscript) is still an AAM; the moment the document carries publisher-assigned page numbers, it has become a proof or the final version of record and is no longer an AAM. The AAM is distinct from a pre-print, which circulates before peer review and acceptance, and from the version of record, which reflects the publisher’s own typesetting and copy-editing.
Why the distinction matters for compliance
The AAM matters operationally because it, together with the preprint, is the version most journal publishers permit authors to self-archive in an institutional or subject repository — often subject to an embargo period — while the typeset version of record usually remains restricted to the publisher’s own platform unless the article is open access. Funder green open-access policies, including many aligned with Plan S, are typically written around AAM deposit specifically, which is why correctly identifying whether a given file is an AAM, a preprint, or a proof is a routine compliance-checking task for repository managers.
The accepted version is one stage in the life of a research manuscript.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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