Reviewed by the author in March 2024.
They’re exploding in number, at times controversial, and they’ve changed scholarly publishing—preprints.
A preprint is a manuscript not yet certified by peer review and accepted for publication by an academic journal. A complimentary avenue to traditional journal publishing, preprints allow the scientific community to share research results quickly and publicly before submitting them for formal peer review. Preprints are typically free to post and read and are maintained by a preprint server—an online platform dedicated to the distribution of preprints.
While the idea of preprints isn’t new—biological preprints were first piloted in 1961 by the National Institute of Health—the practice has gained popularity within the last several years. Even before the pandemic, the not-for-profit preprint server bioRxiv received over 37,000 preprints in 2018, more than all four previous years combined.
The demand for more rapid and open dissemination of research on COVID-19 has only helped preprint servers gain momentum. A 2021 meta-research study revealed that almost a quarter of the COVID-19 related articles published in journals were also posted as preprints.
For better or worse, preprints are here to stay. They are permanent pieces of the scientific record and embedded in the lifecycle of today’s scientific paper.
But you may be wondering…
Why post your research as a preprint?
- Disseminate and increase awareness of your research faster!
A 2021 study of biomedical journals found the average time from submission to publication varied between 91 to 639 days—preprint servers can have your article publicly posted usually within 48 hours. A 2019 meta-study published in eLife also found that having a preprint was associated with 1.36 times more citations for the subsequent peer-reviewed article. - Protect your intellectual capital
Preprints are citable and date stamped. They provide a public record of priority and can prove your research was out there first—faster than a journal can. And unlike conference posters and oral presentations, preprints are digitally preserved so they are publicly searchable and persistently available. Most journals also offer some form of “scoop protection” such that publication of similar work by other authors after the posting of your initial preprint will not be a criterion for rejection. - Solicit “pre-peer review” to strengthen your research before peer review
Preprints offer an opportunity to gather immediate feedback and address major concerns in your research before submission to a journal. This feedback can potentially help speed up the subsequent peer review and revision process. - Enhance your author profile and build connections in your research field
Preprints can generate buzz around your research and connect you with potential collaborators or conference organizers—something particularly useful for early career researchers trying to break into a research area. - Provides an outlet for less “publishable” research
Negative data, duplicate results, abandoned projects, or other work that doesn’t form a coherent story are still of use to the community. Preprints can provide an outlet for scholarly content that would otherwise be lost. - Complementary avenue to report your research
Many funders now require publications to be open access. Preprints are an accessible way to highlight recent projects in a timely and freely accessible format. Bonus: you can emphasize your contributions to open access publishing on your CV or grant applications.
Why preprints aren’t perfect
- Not all journals accept or allow preprints
A minority of journals will not allow manuscripts first posted as a preprint to be considered for peer review and publication. Make sure your target journal allows preprints before posting one; searchable by journal, the Sherpa Romeo index indicates if a journal is okay with preprints. - Accountability and misinterpretation
Not everyone—especially the public and the media—may recognize that a preprint has not been validated by peer review. Results can be misquoted or misinterpreted (that’s how the hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19 controversy started). - Imperfect impact tracking
Publishers are making great strides in citation tracking. But citations that preprints receive aren’t always properly linked to its peer-reviewed version, making it harder to accurately capture your research paper’s impact.
Preprints are an evolving system. Posting a preprint can come with certain risks. Those mentoring the next generation of scientists are embracing preprints, risk and all. Early career researchers are contributing the bulk of preprints in some fields. They are using preprints to develop peer-review skills, and creating training programs and guides to preprinting tailored for their early-career peers.
What’s the deal with preprints? They’re shaping the culture of science.
