What’s the difference between submitted articles, accepted articles, and final published articles?

Original submission article

An original submission article is the article version submitted by the author before peer review. You are the owner of this version of the article.

However, please note that even though you own the article, it is Sage’s policy not to submit it to more than one journal at a time. You should also note that if you post it on the internet with your name before or during peer review, reviewers may be able to identify you, undermining the integrity of a double-anonymized review process.

Accepted article

An accepted article is the version updated to include the author’s revisions after peer review, before any typesetting or light corrections completed by Production for the journal. This is often the version accepted by the editor.

You may share the accepted version of the manuscript in any format without embargo after acceptance. This is in line with Sage’s Green Open Access Policy, for more information please see What is green open access?

Final published article

The final published article is the copy-edited and typeset Publisher’s PDF, the same version published on the journal’s website*. The article is behind a paywall, and the copyright is owned by the publisher**. The publisher owns the copyright. 

*There are a few journal exceptions that are listed on Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines.

**This excludes articles that are published in either gold open access journals or via Sage Choice (Sage's hybrid open access route). For more information, please see What is a gold Open Access journal? and What is hybrid Open Access (Sage Choice)?