Policy for Manuscripts Posted on the Internet Prior to Publication

GSA recognizes that many authors of unpublished papers choose to post their manuscripts on their personal or employer's web site. This practice is viewed by some authors as equivalent to presenting an unpublished manuscript at a professional meeting or circulating an unpublished manuscript among colleagues (e.g., working papers). Authors who choose to post their unpublished manuscripts in such a fashion must identify the manuscripts as unpublished drafts that have not been peer reviewed. If you choose to post your manuscript online, be sure to indicate your copyright so that others do not assume the material is in the public domain and then copy or cite the manuscript without your permission.

When an author submits a manuscript for publication in one of GSA's journals, he/she must inform the editor if the manuscript is currently or has been made available in print (e.g., working paper series) or on the Internet. In the case of prior posting on the Internet, the author must provide the editor with information concerning the site(s) upon which the manuscript has appeared. The journal editor who receives the submission may consider such posting to be prior publication and decline to review the paper. Such decisions will be at the discretion of the editor. The manuscript should be removed from the Internet while it is under review.

Once the article has been accepted, the author must transfer copyright of the article to The Gerontological Society of America (unless the article is written as part of the duties of a federal government employee). The author may post the manuscript (in a word processing, pdf, etc., format file) on his/her personal or employer's website containing the accepted version of the manuscript as he/she submitted it. Conditions:

Disclosure Policy for Authors, Editors, and Editorial Board Members

The Journals of Gerontology and The Gerontologist are committed to publishing unbiased data of the highest standard. It is imperative that our readers have confidence in the scientific reliability of the research presented. For this rea-son, each journal requires its editor-in-chief, members of its editorial board, and all authors to make known any potential conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interest may be financial (stock ownership, honoraria), professional (aca-demic affiliation, employment, consultancies, expert testimony), or personal (family or friends' financial or professional associations, relationships with family and friends). Interests exceeding $10,000 or 5% equity in a company must be disclosed.

Author Disclosure Policy
Journal policy requires that authors submit a separate cover sheet disclosing any and all information that may represent a potential conflict of interest. The journal reserves the right to publish in whole or in part any of the information that may or may not be seen by the journal editor-in-chief as representing a potential conflict of interest; otherwise, the author's statement will be kept confidential. When published, this information will be included on the first page of the article; authors will have the opportunity to review the informa-tion in the page proofs before the article is published.

Editor and Editorial Board Disclosure Policy
The journal requires its editor-in-chief and all members of the editorial board to make known any potential conflicts of interest. The disclosure of such in-formation by the editor-in-chief and editorial board not only helps ensure that articles published in the journal remain well-researched and objective, but protects the editor or reviewer against any outside perception of a conflict of interest. Even a false perception of acting under influence can be harmful to the personal and professional reputations of the editor, the reviewer, and the journal.

The Journals of Gerontology and The Gerontologist will publish annually in print and on the journal's website the disclosure statements of the editor-in-chief and editorial board members.