prepositions - "publish in" vs. "publish on"


I've been looking thoroughly about each constructions, but I haven't been successful about when to use them.


Some rules of thumb I've found:




  • This forum post and this one suggest publish in should be used when the place of publishing is a three-dimensional place and publish on should be used when it's a surface. This makes a bit of sense to me, but does not seem a very academical explanation; whereas there are some cases in which it would be hard to distinguish which kind of place it is.

  • When the place is virtual, on is used. Example: Publish on Google Play



My particular cases are the following:




  • To publish an application __ [in/on] Google Play

  • To publish an application __ [in/on] a virtual market



Is there a way to identify where to use publish in or publish on? Are they mutually exchangeable?



Answer



Google Play and the iTunes Store are virtual locations, so I would follow the normal usage for other such locations (i.e., the Web), and prefer on in most cases.


One exception would be if something were being published in a recognized journal that has both a physical and a virtual presence: I would refer to "an article in The New York Times" for example, whether it's being read online or in newsprint. The same goes for JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), and even the Oxford English Dictionary.


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