The average research paper takes 6 to 12 months to move from submission to publication in a peer-reviewed journal. In fast-moving fields like genomics, machine learning, or epidemiology, that timeline can mean your findings are outdated before anyone reads them. A preprint changes this equation entirely — and the practice is surging. Between 2014 and 2018, the number of authors posting on bioRxiv alone jumped from fewer than 4,000 to over 80,000. So what is a preprint exactly, and should you post one? This guide breaks down everything researchers need to know — from how preprints work and where to post them, to the strategic pros and cons at every career stage.
What is a preprint in academic publishing?
A preprint is a complete version of a research manuscript posted on a publicly accessible server before formal peer review. It is not a rough draft or a conference abstract — it is a finished paper with methods, results, and conclusions, shared openly so that anyone in the world can read, download, and comment on it.
When you upload a preprint, the server assigns it a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which means the work is citable, timestamped, and permanently archived from the moment it goes live. Unlike most journal articles, preprints are almost always free to read and free to post, making them one of the most accessible forms of scientific communication available today.
The critical distinction is straightforward: a preprint has not yet passed through the structured peer-review process that journals provide. It may later be revised based on community feedback and submitted to a journal for formal publication — but at the moment of posting, it stands as an early, open, citable record of your work.
Where do researchers post preprints?
The preprint landscape has expanded dramatically since arXiv launched in 1991 as the first major preprint server. Today, researchers across nearly every discipline have access to dedicated platforms.
Major preprint servers by discipline
arXiv — The original preprint server, covering physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, statistics, and economics. arXiv continues to set monthly submission records and remains the gold standard for preprint culture.
bioRxiv — Launched in 2013 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, bioRxiv is the primary preprint server for the life sciences. It played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting over 30,000 pandemic-related papers. Currently, 281 journals allow authors to submit directly from bioRxiv.
medRxiv — A companion to bioRxiv, focused on clinical, epidemiological, and health sciences research. medRxiv implements a stricter screening process than other servers given the public-health implications of medical findings, with 168 journals accepting direct submissions.
chemRxiv — Covers chemistry and related fields, launched in 2017 by the American Chemical Society.
EarthArXiv — Focused on earth and planetary sciences.
SSRN — The Social Sciences Research Network, widely used in economics, law, and management.
Preprints.org — A multidisciplinary server operated by MDPI.
Research Square — A multidisciplinary platform that also offers in-review preprints posted during the journal review process.
Choosing the right preprint server matters. Posting on a platform recognized in your field ensures your work is discoverable by the researchers most likely to engage with it. If you are unsure which server your community uses, check where competing or related papers in your subfield have been posted.
How does a preprint differ from a peer-reviewed article?
Understanding the difference between a preprint and a journal publication is essential for making informed decisions about your publishing strategy.
A peer-reviewed article has been evaluated by independent experts selected by a journal editor. These reviewers assess the methodology, data analysis, conclusions, and overall quality before the paper is accepted for publication. This process typically takes 6 to 12 months and sometimes longer.
A preprint, by contrast, undergoes only a basic screening — servers check for completeness, appropriate subject matter, and absence of offensive content — but do not evaluate the scientific quality of the work. Posting takes just 1 to 3 days.
Both preprints and published articles receive a DOI and are citable. However, preprints offer something journals cannot: version control. Authors can update their preprints as they refine the work, and every version remains publicly accessible, creating a transparent record of how the research evolved.
A preprint is not a replacement for peer-reviewed publication. It is a complement to it. Most researchers post a preprint first and then submit the same manuscript — often improved based on community feedback — to a journal for formal review.
Should you post a preprint? Key benefits for researchers
The advantages of posting a preprint extend well beyond speed. Here are the most compelling reasons researchers at every career stage should consider it.
Establish priority and protect your discoveries
In competitive fields where multiple groups work on similar problems, a preprint creates an undeniable, timestamped public record of your findings. The DOI and posting date prove you were first — months before any journal reviewer gets to your manuscript. Publishers like EMBO Press have even implemented formal scooping protection from the day your manuscript appears on a preprint server, meaning they will not reject your paper simply because a competitor published similar findings during your review period.
Get early feedback that strengthens your paper
Posting a preprint invites comments from a global pool of experts before you submit to a journal. This community feedback functions as an informal pre-peer review — researchers can spot methodological issues, suggest additional analyses, or point you toward literature you missed. Many authors report that incorporating preprint feedback leads to a significantly stronger final manuscript and a smoother formal peer-review process.
Increase your citation impact
Research published in eLife found that papers with a preprint version received 1.36 times more citations and a 1.49 times higher Altmetric Attention Score than comparable papers without preprints. These effects were roughly four times larger than the citation boost from being affiliated with a prestigious institution. During the COVID-19 pandemic, preprint-distributed papers made up only 12.19% of all COVID-related publications but attracted 26.92% of total citations — more than double their share.
Demonstrate productivity during career transitions
For PhD candidates approaching their defense, postdocs applying for faculty positions, or early-career researchers seeking grants, preprints provide visible evidence of active research output while the formal publication process plays out. A growing number of funding agencies, including the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation, explicitly accept preprint citations in grant applications and progress reports.
Support open science and global access
As of mid-2024, approximately 18% of preprints on major servers were openly licensed with CC BY, and the trend is accelerating as funders increasingly mandate open access. Preprints allow researchers in resource-limited institutions and developing countries to access cutting-edge findings without subscription barriers — democratizing scientific knowledge in a way that paywalled journals often cannot.
What are the risks and downsides of preprints?
Preprints are not without trade-offs. Being aware of the potential disadvantages helps you make a strategic decision rather than a reactive one.
No formal quality control
Since preprints bypass peer review, they may contain errors in methodology, analysis, or interpretation. This is particularly sensitive in fields like medicine and public health, where unverified findings can influence clinical decisions or public behavior. medRxiv addresses this with a tighter screening process, but no preprint server offers the depth of scrutiny that journal peer review provides.
Risk of media misinterpretation
Journalists sometimes report preprint findings as established facts, especially when the topic is newsworthy. If those findings change substantially after peer review, public trust in the underlying science can suffer. This is not a reason to avoid preprints entirely, but it does mean you should clearly label your work and be cautious about how you communicate preliminary results publicly.
Potential influence on peer review
Public comments on your preprint — whether positive or negative — may be visible to journal editors and reviewers evaluating your subsequent submission. While most journal policies do not formally incorporate preprint feedback into peer review, it is difficult for a reviewer to unsee a critique they encountered online.
Additional time investment
Preparing a preprint, choosing the right server, and responding to community feedback adds steps to an already demanding publication workflow. For researchers managing multiple projects simultaneously, this overhead is real and should be planned for.
Journal policy variation
While the vast majority of major publishers now accept manuscripts that were previously posted as preprints — including Springer Nature, Elsevier, and Wiley — policies vary on specifics. Some journals require you to disclose the preprint during submission, link the published article back to the preprint version, or follow rules about updating the preprint after peer review. Always check your target journal's preprint policy before posting. The Transpose database and Wikipedia's list of publisher preprint policies are reliable resources for verifying this.
When should you post a preprint? A decision framework by career stage
Not every paper benefits equally from preprinting. Here is a practical framework for deciding.
PhD candidates and early-career researchers
Preprints are especially valuable early in your career. They demonstrate productivity to hiring committees and grant panels, build your name recognition in the field, and invite feedback that can strengthen both the paper and your research skills. If you are working on a topic where priority matters, posting a preprint is one of the strongest moves you can make.
Postdoctoral researchers
As a postdoc, you are likely balancing multiple projects and building a publication record for faculty applications. Preprints let you show ongoing work without waiting for slow review cycles. They are also useful for sharing results from collaborative projects where co-author review and journal submission timelines can stretch unpredictably.
Principal investigators and lab managers
For PIs overseeing a research group, preprints can accelerate the visibility of your lab's work and signal an active research program to funders. They are also a practical tool for managing team output — if a group member's paper is stuck in a long review cycle, a preprint keeps the work visible and citable. However, PIs should weigh preprinting carefully for papers involving patentable innovations or sensitive data, where early disclosure could have intellectual property implications.
When you should probably wait
Consider delaying or skipping the preprint if your research involves patentable discoveries that require IP protection before public disclosure, or if the findings carry immediate public-health implications that could be misinterpreted without expert review. In rare cases, a journal in your target list may still have a restrictive preprint policy — always verify before posting.
How to post a preprint: a step-by-step workflow
If you have decided to post a preprint, here is a practical workflow to follow.
Finalize your manuscript. Your preprint should be a complete, polished paper — not a rough draft. Include all figures, tables, supplementary materials, and a full reference list.
Choose the right server. Select a preprint server recognized in your discipline. Check where related papers in your subfield have been posted.
Check your target journal's policy. Before posting, confirm that your intended journal accepts previously preprinted manuscripts. Note any requirements about disclosing the preprint or linking versions.
Create an account and submit. Register on the preprint server, upload your manuscript, and fill in the required metadata (title, abstract, authors, subject area). Most servers review submissions within 1 to 3 days before posting.
Share strategically. Once your preprint is live, share it on academic social networks, email it to collaborators and key researchers in your area, and post it on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. The first week after posting is critical for visibility.
Monitor and respond to feedback. Check for comments on the preprint server and on social media. Engage constructively with feedback — this is one of the primary benefits of preprinting.
Update your preprint as needed. If you make significant revisions based on feedback or additional data, post an updated version. Preprint servers maintain all previous versions, so the evolution of your work remains transparent.
Submit to a journal. Once you are satisfied with the manuscript, submit it for formal peer review. Many servers, including bioRxiv and medRxiv, offer direct submission to partnered journals.
Link your preprint to the published version. After your paper is published, update the preprint record with a link to the final journal article. This ensures readers always find the most current, peer-reviewed version.
How to manage preprint versions alongside journal submissions
One of the biggest practical challenges researchers face with preprints is keeping track of multiple versions — the original preprint, revised preprints based on community feedback, the submitted journal manuscript, revisions requested by reviewers, and the final published version. When you are running several projects at once, this can quickly become chaotic.
ScholarDock, a research project and reference management platform, is built to solve exactly this problem. In ScholarDock, you can organize every version of a manuscript within a single project workspace — linking the preprint DOI, the journal submission record, reviewer feedback, co-author comments, and the final published version in one connected timeline. Instead of hunting through email threads, shared drives, and multiple browser tabs, everything lives in one place.
ScholarDock also lets you track citation impact across preprint and journal versions, so you can see how your work is performing from the moment you post the preprint through to formal publication. For research teams managing multiple papers at different stages — some in preprint, some under review, some published — ScholarDock's project dashboards give you a clear picture of where every manuscript stands without switching between tools.
Will preprints count toward tenure and funding?
This is one of the most common questions researchers ask, and the answer is evolving rapidly in favor of preprints.
A growing number of funding agencies now accept preprint citations in grant applications. The Wellcome Trust, the Gates Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and many European funders explicitly recognize preprints as valid research outputs. Some funders go further, actively encouraging or requiring open preprint posting as part of their open-access mandates.
On the tenure and promotion front, the picture is more mixed but trending positive. Organizations like ASAPbio have been advocating for recognition of preprints in hiring and promotion decisions, and a growing number of institutions now include preprints in their evaluation criteria. However, traditional metrics like journal impact factor still carry significant weight at many universities. The practical advice: include your preprints in your CV and application materials, clearly labeled as preprints, and be prepared to explain their role in your overall publication strategy.
The future of preprints in academic publishing
Preprints are no longer a niche practice confined to physics and mathematics. They have become a mainstream part of how science is communicated, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and driven by the broader open-science movement. AI-powered tools are beginning to provide automated quality screening for preprints, and overlay journals — which use preprints as their base and add a peer-review layer on top — represent a potential bridge between the speed of preprints and the rigor of traditional publishing.
For researchers, the question is no longer whether preprints are legitimate, but how to use them strategically. Posting a preprint at the right time, on the right server, with a clear plan for journal submission and version management can meaningfully accelerate your career, increase your citations, and expand the reach of your work.
Take control of your preprint workflow
If your research team is juggling preprints, journal submissions, and collaborative feedback across disconnected tools, ScholarDock brings your entire publishing workflow — manuscripts, references, versions, and collaborators — into one connected workspace. From first draft to final citation, everything stays organized and discoverable in a single platform built for how research teams actually work.