Having electronic preprints is logical

doi:10.1136/bmj.316.7148.1907

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John McConnell, Multimedia editor,
Richard Horton, Editor

The Lancet, London WC1B 3SL

EDITOR— Delamothe asks what the policy of journals should be on publication on the internet of electronic preprints (“eprints”).1He points out that some journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and, currently, the BMJ, reject papers whose substance has already appeared as an eprint because they regard this manoeuvre as prior publication. This policy is illogical and impossible to police. What is the difference between the published abstract of a study presented at a conference and an eprint? The only …