Preprint servers were created to speed up scholarly publishing and allow authors to receive peer feedback on their preprint manuscripts before they submit it to a journal [2<\/a>]. Some journals don’t allow for this: they don’t want any version of a manuscript to have been printed elsewhere even as a preprint. Other journals, however, don’t mind or even welcome it [3<\/a>].<\/p>\n We’re a big fan of preprints at Publons. We see these servers as a great way to advance research,\u00a0boost discoverability<\/a>, and to improve the professional development of researchers and reviewers.<\/p>\n With that in mind, this blog post will demonstrate how you can use preprints to get ahead in job and funding applications, and to enhance your writing, research, and reviewing skills in our free online\u00a0Publons Academy<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s start off by taking a look at the preprint landscape and seeing which servers are currently out there for you to benefit from.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The most well-known preprint server is probably\u00a0arXiv<\/a>\u00a0(pronounced like \u2018archive\u2019). It started as a server for preprints in physics and has since expanded out to various subjects, including mathematics, computer science, and economics. The arXiv server is now run by the Cornell University Library and contains 1.37 million preprints so far.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Open Science Framework<\/a>\u00a0provides an open source framework to help researchers and institutions set up their own preprint servers. One such example is\u00a0SocArXiv<\/a>\u00a0for the Social Sciences. On their website you can browse more than 2 million preprints, including preprints on arXiv, and many of them have their own preprint digital object identifier (DOI). In cases where the preprint has now been published it also links to the publication\u2019s DOI.<\/p>\n Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory set up\u00a0bioaRxiv<\/a>, a preprint server for Biology in 2013 to complement arXiv. The bioaRxiv server has a direct transfer service to several journals such as Science and PNAS [4<\/a>,\u00a05<\/a>] and a bit over 60% of papers in bioaRxiv end up published in peer reviewed journals [6<\/a>].<\/p>\n In more recent years a lot of new servers have popped up covering almost every field including the social sciences, arts, and humanities fields. Here\u2019s a quick overview of some of the rest:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The medical and health sciences is the only field lacking a dedicated preprint server at the moment. The reason behind this is in part due to the implications of sharing non-peer reviewed research with the general public [7<\/a>].<\/p>\n Imagine a popular news outlet running a headline story based on research that has not yet been peer reviewed, or a patient wanting to try a new therapeutic drug they have read about without understanding the difference between something being screened for a preprint server and actually being peer reviewed?<\/p>\n Yale University are in talks with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory who run bioaRxiv to set up a\u00a0MedaRxiv<\/a>\u00a0server but the announcement has had mixed feedback [8<\/a>]. One thing is for certain to garner a positive respose: it needs to be clear to the wider public what a preprint server is and why peer review is the recognized standard for maintaining the quality and integrity of research.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Showcasing your expertise<\/strong><\/p>\n Now we\u2019ve learned a bit about which preprint servers are out there, it’s time to look at how they can benefit you.<\/p>\n Since 2017, the\u00a0Wellcome Trust<\/a>\u00a0in the UK has allowed researchers to cite preprints in grant applications and end-of-grant review reports [9<\/a>]. This means that they recognize preprints as a valid early form of publication.<\/p>\n That\u2019s great news for researchers and reviewers!<\/p>\n That’s because it can help you:<\/p>\n There are a bunch more benefits we can add to this list, including using preprints to provide a timestamp for your ideas or method, and making a home for scholarly content that would otherwise be lost (particularly pertinent with replication studies and negative results). You can find more on these points\u00a0in this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sharpening your research and review skills<\/strong><\/p>\n Last year we launched the free, online\u00a0Publons Academy<\/a>\u00a0because training in peer review was lacking. We heard as much from researchers across all career stages – especially reviewers new to the scene. Many told us they were not confident enough to accept those first review invitations, while others said they did not know how to get into reviewing and connect with journal editors.<\/p>\n This is a key reason why peer review training courses are essential to the health of the system – and central to the theme for this year’s\u00a0Peer Review Week<\/a>\u00a0in September: diversity and inclusion in peer review.<\/p>\n Preprints help to bridge that gap in learning. We actively encourage researchers to benefit from this movement during the Publons Academy because they offer:<\/p>\n To review a preprint on Publons:<\/strong>\u00a0simply go to your private dashboard and under Review Records select \u2018Add review\u2019. Preprints are considered published on Publons so click the post-publication review option, then simply add in the title and the DOI or arXiv ID, and then write your review. Publons also has an integration with preprints.org allowing any comments written on their site to be optionally added as a post-publication review on submission.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/clarivate.com\/academia-government\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-24-at-3.00.40-PM.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat are the different preprint servers?<\/h4>\n
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What about the medical and health sciences?<\/h4>\n
The benefits of preprints<\/h4>\n
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Top tips to critically review a preprint<\/h4>\n