Preprints
A preprint is an early version of an academic research output that is uploaded by the authors to a public server. They have typically not undergone peer review or been accepted for publication by a journal. While some preprint servers provide brief quality-control inspections the research output is made available online quickly and can be openly accessed and reused (according to the terms of the reuse licence). Sharing a research output as a preprint allows authors to directly control the dissemination of their work to a global audience. While common practice in some scientific disciplines, sharing your preprint is becoming more widespread in recent years including in the humanities and social sciences.
Benefits include:
- speeding up discovery and communication
- increased visibility to policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and the public
- increased chances of early feedback and commentary from peers prior to formal peer review
- demonstrating openness and transparency
- evidence of productivity and accomplishment to funders and employers
What to consider before sharing your preprint
Before sharing your preprint ensure you:
- research journal policies on when and where preprints may be posted. Publishers commonly allow submitted manuscripts to be shared on preprint servers, and accept the submission of manuscripts already available as preprints however it is best to confirm this. Check Open Policy Finder and individual journal websites for information about their policies on preprints
- choose a preprint server. Consider visibility, and features like preservation and indexing, which can be found on individual server websites or the ASAPBio Preprint Server Directory
- check any funder recommendations or requirements for grant applications
- choose a reuse license
- discuss with co-authors and obtain their agreement
- deposit any code/data/reagents you want to share to appropriate repositories
Where to share your preprint:
There are preprint servers for nearly all disciplines. ASAPBio provide a Preprint server directory relevant to life sciences, biomedical, and clinical research with searchable information about their policies and practices.
Prominent preprint servers include:
arXiv.org is a preprint server for astrophysics, condensed matter, general relativity, high energy physics, mathematical physics, nuclear physics, general physics, quantum physics, mathematics, nonlinear sciences, computer science, electrical engineering, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, and economics.
Research Papers in Economics (RePEc)
RePEc is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in more than 100 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics and related sciences.
Social Science Research Network (SSRN)
SSRN has access to worldwide social science research and is composed of a number of specialised research networks in each of the social sciences.
MedRxiv is a preprint server for the medical, clinical, and related health sciences
SocArxiv is a preprint archive for the Social Sciences
PsyArXiv is a preprint server for Psychology
Need help?
Contact your Faculty Outreach Librarian