My journal article has been “embargoed”! What does that mean?
You may wish that your published research gets media attention, but most of the time academic articles are read by other scholars, not by the general public.
Yet there are times when a journal editor realizes that your forthcoming article is going to generate media interest. Editors and publishers would like media to have access to your article once it is out online or in print, not beforehand. In that case they may inform you that they are placing an embargo on your article, meaning that you cannot talk to media until the article is out.
Congratulations! This means your scholarship is making news.
Some prestigious journals have an embargo on every article they publish. For example, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has a media embargo, because so many articles published in this high-impact journal are likely to make news.
This is what the NEJM posts on their website: “Qualified journalists receive embargoed online access to an upcoming NEJM issue on Friday at 10:00 a.m. ET and may conduct interviews with authors and prepare stories. These reporters agree to neither publish nor broadcast their stories until after the media embargo lifts at 5:00 p.m. ET on the following Wednesday.”
What can I not do while my article is embargoed?
You cannot talk to media about your upcoming article during this time, including media in other countries
You should be careful not to post about your article on social media, because you won’t have control of viewers re-posting and potentially getting the attention of the media
Make sure that all co-authors know about the embargo policy. It is especially important that graduate students and junior colleagues know about this policy.
If you tell a trusted friend, family member, or colleague about your forthcoming article, be sure to stress how vital it is that they don’t talk about this to anyone else
What can I do while my article is embargoed?
You can present your research at a scientific conference
Some science disciplines have nonprofit “preprint servers” where you can post your research as a draft for feedback from the scientific community
You can contact your university media relations office about your upcoming article so that they can prepare a press release, but be sure to tell them about the embargo date
Remember, if news of your research gets into media during the embargo, the journal will not publish your article even if it has been accepted or is in the page proof process!