Whittemore Library: The Scholarly Publishing Hub: Preprint Servers/Repositories

PREPRINT SERVERS/REPOSITORIES

Some researchers may feel that the traditional academic journal peer review process is a lengthy, drawn-out procedure (sometimes lasting for several months) that can potentially delay the dissemination of important research findings...preprint servers are a great way for researchers to quickly post their findings and obtain feedback from other scholars in their field...

- From ACCDON LLC

The Basics of Preprints

What are preprint servers and what is their role in scholarly publishing?
General explanation of Preprint Repositories.
Preprints
Basic description of preprint repositories from the Public Library of Science.
ASAPbio (Accelerating Science and Publication in Biology)
Tracks preprint policies and practices at journals, funders, and universities. "a scientist-driven non-profit promoting transparency and innovation in life science communication."

**How Pre-prints helped during COVID-19 but also made scientific research seem less reliable**

Sad Irony: Making research results available before they'd been peer-reviewed / officially published helped researchers develop COVID-19 vaccines and treatments much more quickly - but made some of the public who saw how some pre-print research articles were removed and not published (for not being completely correct) less certain about the scientific research process in general!

Scholarly Community Discussions about Pre-prints

The Second Wave of Preprint Servers: How Can Publishers Keep Afloat?
Blog article from 2019 about the continuing popularity of preprint repositories.
Between fast science and fake news: Preprint servers are political
Article from the LSE Impact Blog, self-described as "a hub for researchers, administrative staff, librarians, students, think tanks, government, and anyone else interested in maximising the impact of academic work in the social sciences and other disciplines."

Where Pre-prints can be Found

List of preprint servers: policies and practices across platforms
A list of preprint servers relevant to life sciences, biomedical, and clinical research with searchable information about their policies and practices.
Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR)
Promotes the development of open access by providing timely information about the growth and status of repositories throughout the world. hosted at the University of Southampton, UK and is made possible by funding from the JISC. ROAR is part of the EPrints.org network.

Framingham State University Digital Repository (FSUDR)
Preserves and showcases the University’s history and the intellectual and artistic outputs (including article preprints) of Framingham State University students, faculty, and staff.