HAL is a tool for direct scientific communication among researchers..

A text submitted on HAL must describe a completed research project, in accordance with usual scientific practice in the discipline; the content must be comparable with the manuscripts submitted by the researchers to the review committees of scientific journals, collective works, etc. for publication.

A moderator checks the acceptability of the text.

Submissions in HAL are subject to validation by scientists. Each field (= theme) in HAL has its own validating scientist(s).

The validating scientist verifies only that the articles submitted are compatible with the purpose of the archive, and ensures a minimum degree of filtering (for example, if the document you are submitting contains a file taken from a published commercial journal that is subject to copyright laws, it is impossible to archive it and disseminate it as it is, and a refusal message will be sent to you).

The documents submitted in HAL are therefore not subjected to detailed scientific assessment, but only to a quick scientific validation to ensure that the document meets HAL’s acceptability criteria.