Preprints
Preprints
A pre-print is the finished version of the article before it has undergone peer-review. This is the version you can submit to the journal of your choice for publication. There is no cost to the publication of a pre-print. Using a pre-print repository or server is an opportunity to share your research at an early stage. Pre-prints will generally be assigned a unique identifier such as a DOI. They can be cited, and can be indexed in some databases such as Google Scholar.
For some disciplines, pre-prints are embedded in the process of sharing research results. The first repository was ArXiv founded in 1991 by academics in physics. It now caters for physics, mathematics, economics and other. Pre-prints tend to be discipline-specific and the Directory of Open Access Preprint Repositories is a good place to locate those that are relevant to you.
Pre-print servers might offer the opportunity for comments and provide open peer-review and comments which can help you improve your work before submission. Some pre-print servers are starting to embed peer-review in their workflow, such as Review Commons, PCI Peer Community In, Rapid Reviews, Pre-Review and Science CoLab. You can find some information on these in our blog.
Pre-prints are a good way to share your research as early as possible. The benefits of publishing your research earlier is that it can have an impact more quickly.
You can establish priority on your work. Publishing a pre-print will give it a public date stamp. This allows you to prove priority claims.
A preprint is a citable output with a DOI. If the formal publication is still undergoing the review process, the pre-rpin can still be used in grant applications, when looking for a job or seeking promotion.
You might be able to improve your paper if you receive comments from the community.
You can also add negative results or reproduction of studies which are less likely to be published by journals in the current system. Journals tend to prefer new and original studies. This can ensure that other researchers do not waste time trying the same study and getting the same negative results.