Publication in a peer reviewed journal serves to authenticate the author’s work and protect his or her claim to authorship.  Quality assurance in STM publishing is critically important. Distortion, error, misattribution and plagiarism all have dangerous consequences for scientists, health practitioners and the communities they serve. 

Ensuring the accuracy and authenticity of the final peer reviewed article is one of the most important dimensions of quality assurance. Different versions of a research article may be produced, distributed and archived, reflecting various stages of submission, editing, review, amendment and annotation.  Some versions may not reflect the author’s corrections or changes made in peer review. Versions may exist that can be altered subsequent to publication.  Quality assurance requires that there be a definitive version of the published journal article that is guaranteed to be maintained in its original form in one accessible place where it cannot be altered. 

Elsevier is committed to preparing, preserving and safeguarding that the published journal article serves as the definitive record.