The acceptance date is the date an article is formally accepted for publication by a journal, usually confirmed in acceptance letter or email from the publisher.
The acceptance date for a paper published in a conference proceedings can be less straightforward to determine, so please get in touch if you having difficulties finding this information (publications@city.ac.uk).
The acceptance dates for articles and conference proceedings are needed upon depositing a full text into CRO in order to assess the publication’s eligibility for the next REF.
The eligibility criteria for the next REF will likely require journal articles and conference papers with an ISSN to be deposited into CRO within 3 months of the acceptance date, as stated on page 56, point 236 of the official Guidance on Submissions document for the previous REF (REF 2021).
