Preprints, What Are They?

 

Preprints are not new in medicine, although they may not be well known. And, like the publication rates for case reports, preprint servers are becoming more visible.

Summary data and timelines from case reports, accompanied by the CARE reporting guidelines checklist at the time of data deposition on a preprint server, could facilitate the review and translation of clinical findings. This would allow authors to share and distribute results from clinical practice worldwide, long before articles make their way through the peer review and publication process at scientific journals. Health research reporting guideline checklists can help ensure uniformity of data deposition to preprint servers.

Potential authors are motivated to post data to share information to receive feedback and share information with peers months or years before publication in peer-reviewed, indexed journals. Most, but not all, journals accept articles based on data deposited on preprint servers, just as they accept articles based on conference presentations and posters. Some even accept submissions directly from preprint servers.

Recent history of preprints:

  • The NIH in 1961, mailed copies of draft manuscripts (before peer review) to groups of biologists

  • Physicists in 1991 set up arXiv (archive), a preprint server for the physics community

  • In 2000, F1000 (Faculty of 1000) launched as an open peer-reviewed journal, conducting open peer-review of articles AFTER publication

  • The publisher Nature operated a preprint server called Nature Precedings from 2007 – 2012

  • In 2013, Cold Springs Harbor Lab launched bioRxiv, a preprint server promoting scientific communication in a variety of fields

  • In 2016, SSRN (Social Science Research Network) joined Elsevier and Mendeley to help authors communicate and share early results through preprints in a variety of fields

  • In 2017, F1000 created an open research platform in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, the Gates Foundation and others to support the rapid sharing of data, including preprints

 
David Riley