Open Research

  How to register a preprint

Contents:

• Preprints and publisher policies
• Finding a preprint server
• Evaluating preprint servers
• Registering a preprint

Preprints and publisher policies

Preprints are early versions of research papers that have not yet been peer reviewed.

Most publishers are happy to accept publicly available preprints for possible publication in a journal or book. Most also allow submitted manuscripts to be shared at any time on preprint servers.

Nonetheless, it is always worthwhile checking your publisher’s preprint policies prior to submission or deposit, as certain open licences may be discouraged.

Publishers' preprint sharing policies are usually provided on the publisher’s website, or they can be found on the SherpaRomeo deposit policy register.​

Finding a preprint server

Preprints are usually shared on dedicated preprint servers.

A discipline-specific preprint server might be the best place to share your work, depending on your field. There are now many well-established preprint servers available in a wide range of disciplines, including in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) fields and in HASS (humanities, arts, and the social sciences).

Some examples of prominent discipline-specific preprint servers include:

• arXiv.org (scientific disciplines, particularly physics and mathematics, but also economics and finance)
• bioRxiv (biology)
• ChemRxiv (chemistry)
• EdArxiv (education)
• medRxiv (medicine and health sciences)
• PsyArXiv (psychological sciences)
• RePEc EconPapers (business and economics)
• SocArxiv (social sciences)

There are also some prominent general, or multi-disciplinary, preprint servers available. These include:

• OSF Preprints
• Research Square
• SSRN (Social Science Research Network)
• Zenodo

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.

Evaluating preprint servers

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.

Registering a preprint

While each preprint server is slightly different, registering a preprint typically follows similar basic steps. These include:

• Creating an account
• Uploading your pre-peer-review manuscript
• Providing metadata (title, date, authors, subject tags, etc.)
• Attaching any supplementary material
• Assigning a copyright licence (such as a Creative Commons licence)

For examples of preprint records, see this OSF Preprints example and this bioRxiv example.