A common question that comes up is: “What is the history of preprints?”
Where do preprints come from? What are preprints? Why do people use them?
Is a preprint something that you should consider submitting?
Where do preprints come from?
To learn a bit about the history of preprints, we need to go back quite a ways. Over sixty years ago, in 1961, the National Institutes of Health launched a project called “Information Exchange Groups.” Initially, the goal was to circulate biological preprints. Why would people use preprints? The goal was simple and straightforward, to accelerate research by making knowledge available quickly. These preprints (or memos, at the time) were not peer reviewed or even usually edited in a meaningful way.
A good idea that didn’t last. While the idea grew quickly, it eventually shut down. Many journals even took stances regarding preprints/memos, viewing them negatively and refusing to publish manuscripts that had been previously published as preprints. As noted by Matthew Cobb,
The growth of preprint circulation in all fields of science led some journal publishers—both commercial companies and learned societies—to feel that their prestige in the scientific community and their finances could be menaced.
So, publishers fought against the principle, but it remained something that many thought to be very important.
Further history of preprints
Over thirty years later, in 1999, the British Medical Journal launched the “first preprint server dedicated to clinical research,” ClinMedNetPrints.org. The server was shut down, nine years later, due to lack of use.
2013, however, showed that there was an acceptance that was starting to take shape. bioRxiv and medRxiv, two preprint servers, established themselves and worked with journals.
Even so, the growth of preprints as a concept didn’t accelerate significantly until COVID.
COVID and preprints
Jim Handman, the executive director of the Science Media Centre of Canada, rightly observed that
COVID changed everything.
Due to the urgent need for information during an unprecedented public health threat, the use of preprints ballooned. It went a very long way in changing how people viewed preprints in general, but also introduced some complications. There was confusion that existed between “preprints” and “peer reviewed research”.
This has also created a need for information about what preprints are, and importantly what they are not.
What are preprints?
With the history of preprints clarified, it’s time to dive into what a preprint actually is. A preprint is basically a draft of a scholarly article or research paper. This draft is made available to the public prior to the peer review stage of the publication process. This means that researchers are able to get their work out quickly and get feedback on it at an early stage.
In addition, they’re citable and open for comments from other researchers. Even though they have not undergone a peer review process, they’re still potentially extremely valuable. As noted above, this was part of the original intention of preprints; to increase the speed of research my making results available quickly. History has shown that this has been of great importance to academia.
Some benefits of using preprints
While there are some important differences between preprints and peer-reviewed research, this isn’t to say that preprints don’t serve an important function. Some of these benefits help the academics who publish them, but other benefits are broadly applicable to the research community as a whole. For example,
- Preprints are citeable;
- Preprints can be indexed;
- Feedback can be provided on a preprint, which can improve the work prior to publication;
- Preprints are multidisciplinary and can be used in many fields.
In addition to the short period of time it takes to publish a preprint, they also provide authors with a fast option to publish preliminary research. While the history of preprints is important to know, there are other things that you might want to keep in mind.
Submitting preprints
Submitting preprints can be a little bit daunting. Unfortunately, knowing the history of where preprints came from and how we got to where we are won’t help. As such, we’ve put together a handy guide for you to go over.
In this article, we go over many of the details that you’ll need to be aware of to get your preprint published online. Remember, when you get your preprint uploaded, others can see it, provide feedback, and you can then improve your work further. Getting it indexed is another way for you to expand the reach of your preprint.
What about indexing preprints?
Some people are not aware that preprints are actually eligible for indexing. Preprints are often on the cutting-edge of research, and so they greatly benefit from being indexed. The Preprint Citation Index, which is a multidisciplinary collection of major preprint repositories, can be found on the Web of Science.
Because indexing can be a crucial part of preprints, we have gone into greater detail on the subject. Learn more about how indexing to improve the ways in which you can use preprints to help your research and career.
The importance of preprints
Because they accelerate the speed of research, preprints can have a vast impact on projects and the world in general. During the pandemic, the volume of research that was able to be shared globally because of this system greatly accelerated the rate at which information was tested and research was done.
Going forward, we are excited to see the different ways in which preprints can continue to help the research community—and the world.
