Preprints are an essential contributor to research, as they allow early release of findings, discoveries and data. Indeed, preprints and even earlier releases of data have played a critical role in scientific response. Vicki Thomson, Chief Executive of the Group of Eight.*
About preprints
Preprints are early versions of research papers that have not yet been peer reviewed. They are typically shared on preprint servers, where they may use open licences, such as Creative Commons licences.
The practice of sharing preprints has historically centred on certain scientific disciplines. However, it has been gaining momentum across all disciplines in recent years, including in the humanities.
Regardless of your field, by sharing your early work as preprints you can:
- Rapidly disseminate findings to a global audience.
- Make your work freely available to policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and the public.
- Share and enable easy citation with a permanent identifier, such as a DOI.
- Increase your researcher profile and establish your area of research.
- Open up opportunities to connect with potential collaborators.
- Receive feedback on your work prior to formal peer review, allowing you to undertake revisions.
- Demonstrate openness and transparency by allowing scrutiny of your early work.
- Point to your early work in job and grant applications.
Preprint servers
Preprints are usually shared on dedicated preprint servers. When choosing a server to host your preprint, consider which will have the greatest reach within your discipline. Consider asking your peers which preprint servers they use most often.
Prominent general, or multi-disciplinary, preprint servers include:
There are also a wide range of discipline-specific preprint servers. Some examples include:
- arXiv.org (scientific disciplines, particularly physics and mathematics, but also economics and finance)
- bioRxiv (biology)
- ChemRxiv (chemistry)
- EdArxiv (education)
- engrXiv (engineering)
- medRxiv (medicine and health sciences)
- PsyArXiv (psychological sciences)
- RePEc EconPapers (business and economics)
- SocArxiv (social sciences)
The Directory of Open Access Preprint Repositories (DOAPR) can be used to discover reputable preprint servers in your area. See also Wikipedia's list of academic preprint repositories.
Features of a quality preprint server include:
- Minting unique DOIs for uploads.
- Version tracking for revised versions when they're provided.
- Facilitating the author's choice of licence, such as the suite of Creative Commons licences.
- Ability to link to the final published version, when it's available.
Preprints and publisher policies
Most academic publishers welcome the submission of manuscripts already available as preprints. Journals, for example, usually require that:
- Authors provide details of the preprint upon submission.
- The preprint has not undergone formal peer review elsewhere.
- The preprint record will be updated to link to the published version, preferably by DOI.
Most publishers will also allow submitted manuscripts to be shared at any time on preprint servers. Still, authors should check publisher policies before sharing submitted manuscripts on preprint servers. This can be done by checking journal websites or the Open Policy Finder.
Further support
For enquiries relating to preprint sharing, please email your discipline's liaison librarians.
Alternatively, you can contact the library with any questions, feedback or suggestions.
* The opening quote from Vicki Thomson is from an article in Research Professional News (14/9/2021).
Page last updated 28 February 2025.
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