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A Practical Guide
to Preprints
Accelerating Scholarly Communication
In Open Science and academic publishing,
the preprint increasingly appears on
the radar as an important element in
academic communication. By posting
preprints, academics can rapidly share
their findings and build upon each other’s
work. Consequently, the number of preprint
servers is growing, more and more funders
encourage researchers to make their work
open access via a preprint, an increasing
number of publishers allow authors to post
a preprint before submission, and preprints
are indexed in search engines like
Google Scholar, Dimensions, Lens and
OSF preprints. Scopus includes preprints
in author profiles.
This is a practical and informative guide
for researchers on how to post and use
preprints, and for the general public
(journalists, patients, healthcare workers,
etc.) on how to interpret the research
published through preprints.
Terms in orange are explained in the
Glossary.
Introduction
Introduction	 3
	 What are preprints?	 4
Pros and cons of preprints	 6
What are the disciplinary aspects and recent
developments around preprints?	 7
Practical guide	 9
Where to find a preprint server	 9
What to consider before selecting a preprint server	 10
How to post a preprint	 10
How to prepare a preprint	 11
How to upload a preprint	 11
What licence to choose for a preprint	 11
How to revise a preprint	 12
How to withdraw a preprint	 12
How to link a preprint to the published journal article	 12
For the public:
How to interpret the information in a preprint?	 13
Recognising the differences between a preprint and
a published article	 13
How to recognise a preprint?	 14
What to do if a preprint seems interesting?	 14
FAQ	 16
Glossary	 19
Contents
Photo: Shutterstock – enterlinedesign
A Practical Guide to Preprints
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2
A Practical Guide to Preprints
Other versions of academic papers include
‘working paper’, ‘manuscript’, ‘postprint’
(also known as ‘author’s accepted
manuscript’)’ and ‘published version’
(also known as ‘version of record’)’. The
differences between them are shown
in figure 1 and further explained in the
glossary.
Preprints are considered as part of the
scholarly record. Scholars cannot delete
their preprints from a preprint server.
However, preprints can be withdrawn. The
preprint server will remove the preprint, but
basic metadata such as title, authors and
the reason for withdrawal will be left visible.
Most established preprint servers have
policies regarding withdrawal that are worth
checking. > link 1 > link 2 > link 3
What are
preprints?
In this guide, we use the following definition
of preprints:
Preprints are “[academic] manuscripts that
have not been peer reviewed or published in
a traditional publishing venue (e.g., journal,
conference proceeding, book)” (Malički et
al., 2020, p.1901). > more info
Preprints should not (yet) be regarded as
conclusive or guiding specific behaviour.
Not all preprints will eventually be published
in an academic journal. Academics mainly
post preprints to receive early feedback
and community review, to speed up
dissemination, and to make their work
available in open access. > more info
Preprints are shared publicly, usually on a
preprint server – also known as preprint
archive. But commercial social networks for
academics like ResearchGate and Academia.
edu and researchers’ own websites are also
used for sharing preprints, even though
these alternatives are less suitable (see FAQ
nr 6). Most preprint servers give papers a
unique and persistent identifier (PID), such
as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), making
it easy to include them in reference lists.
With a PID, preprints can also be indexed
by major search engines and tools providing
altmetrics. The DOI assigned to the preprint
differs from the DOI that the publisher gives
to the accepted and published version of
the same article.
FIGURE 1
THE PLACE FOR PREPRINTS IN THE PUBLICATION WORKFLOW.
Introduction Introduction
Photo: Shutterstock – BrAt82
PREPRINTS
Scientist Manuscript
Months to years
Review process
Journal
Preprint server
Days
Editor
Publication
preprint
Community
review
Publication
journal
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Pros and cons
of preprints
Sharing a preprint has both advantages
and disadvantages. Overall, the benefits
outweigh the risks. In the figure below you
can find an overview of the pros and cons
for researchers only (left part) and for both
researchers and the general public (right part
of the figure). The icons of the advantages
are coloured green, whereas the icons of the
disadvantages have the color red.
What are the
disciplinary
aspects and recent
developments
around preprints?
	
Professionally, systematically and publicly
sharing preprints can be traced back to
the early 1990s, with arXiv being the best
known and largest example. Physics was
the first subject area with a growing number
of preprints, followed by mathematics,
computer science, quantitative biology,
quantitative finance, statistics, economics,
and electrical engineering and systems
science. In 1994, the Social Sciences
Research Network (SSRN) was founded.
It is generally used as a preprint server
for disciplines like economics, law and
political sciences. Three years later, eco-
nomics-focused RePeC followed – not as a
preprint server per se, but as an aggregator
of preprints and working papers placed
throughout repositories.
For a long time, the practice of preprints
was mainly seen in the aforementioned
academic disciplines and on these main
servers. In the mid-2000s, attention
for posting preprints also grew in other
domains. In 2007, Nature came up with
Nature Proceedings for biomedical sciences,
chemistry and earth sciences. However,
this server ceased activity in 2012. In 2013,
bioRxiv was founded for the biomedical
disciplines, which is now one of the largest
preprint servers.
In 2016, the Open Science Framework
(OSF), which is part of the Center for Open
Science project, started to host their own
first batch of initially psychology-focused
FIGURE 2
THE PROS AND CONS OF PREPRINT FOR RESEARCHERS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC
Introduction Introduction
preprint servers. The OSF currently caters to
a wide range of subject areas, though it is
most commonly used by Social Sciences &
Humanities researchers.
One of the latest additions to the pre-
print-server families is medRxiv for the
medical disciplines, founded in 2019. The
recent COVID-19 health crisis has seen a
massive increase in preprint deposits, not
only in biomedical and health research
but also in other disciplines like sociology,
psychology and communication studies,
as figure 3 on the next page shows.
An increasing number of publishers host
their own preprint archives. Major examples
are ‘First Look’ (now part of Elsevier-owned
SSRN), Research Square (Springer Nature),
Authorea (Wiley) and Preprints.org (MDPI).
These archives allow preprints to be linked
to a specific journal at an early stage, which
makes it something of a middle ground
between open access early sharing and
more traditional publishing.
Some journals/platforms (F1000 Research,
Open Research Europe, Wellcome Open
Research) have certain preprint-like
characteristics, like early online access
and/or parallel community review. However,
these should not be confused with preprint
servers, as they use certain organized
editorial elements that preprint servers lack.
Finally, there are efforts being put forward
to bridge the gap between non-reviewed
preprint and peer-reviewed journal articles.
For example, eLife makes it possible to
place journal-mediated peer review reports
with the preprint, Review Commons
offers journal-independent peer-review
of preprints, and Peer Community In goes
a step further by also recommending
preprints based on journal-independent
peer-review.
FOR RESEARCHERS FOR RESEARCHERS AND THE PUBLIC
Very short
time-to-
publish
Free access to
work
Recognition of
your work
Everybody can
comment
Early feedback Can be cited,
if DOI available
Open Licences Accelerate
science
by rapidly
building upon
each other’s
work
Increased
visibility
Earlier
development
of potential
collaborations
Very low costs A few journals do not accept
manuscripts previously
published as preprints
Novelty and quality of
research not validated:
harder to distinguish between
low- and high-quality research
Risk of
pseudoscience
A Practical Guide to Preprints
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Introduction
Posted Date
Source
Preprints
FIGURE 3
COVID-19 PREPRINTS SUBMITTED PER MONTH FROM 2020-02-01 TO 2021-09-29
Source: https://github.com/nicholasmfraser/covid19_preprints
medRxiv
Research Square
SSRN
RePEc
bioRxiv
arXiv
ResearchGate
JMIR
OSF Preprints
Authorea
Preprints.org
PsyArXiv (OSF)
SocArXiv (OSF)
ChemRxiv
SciELO
Zenodo
Figshare
SAGE
Other*
*	Other refers to preprint repositories containing <100 total relevant
preprints. These include: AfricArXiv (OSF), AgriXiv (OSF), BioHackrXiv (OSF),
Cambridge University Press, Copernicus GmbH, EcoEvoRxiv (OSF), EdArXiv
(OSF), engrXiv (OSF), ESSOAR, Frenxiv (OSF), INA-Rxiv (OSF), IndiaRxiv
(OSF), LawArXiv (OSF), MediArXiv (OSF), MetaArXiV (OSF), NutriXiv (OSF),
ScienceOpen, SportRxiv (OSF), Techrxiv (IEEE), WHO.
FIGURE 4
SERVERS PLOTTED PER ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE. NOTE THAT THIS IMAGE
ONLY CONTAINS A LIMITED SELECTION OF SERVERS.
This guide aims to provide recommen-
dations for selecting a preprint server
and for posting a preprint. It was largely
inspired by the ASAPbio preprint FAQ.
Where to find a
preprint server
	
Wikipedia maintains a list of preprint servers.
ASAPbio also keeps an updated list of
preprint servers. Figure 4 shows a number of
preprint servers and their focus on specific
disciplines.
Practical guide
AgriRXiv
ChemRxiv
EarthArXiv
EcoEvoRxiv
engrXiv
RePEc
BodoArxiv
PaleorXiv
Hprints
LawArXiv
LAW
ECONOMICS
STEM
HEALTH
SOCIAL
SCIENCES
HUMANTITIES
SocArXiv
PsyArXiv
EdArXiv
MedRxiv
All disciplines
Zenodo
HAL
<< Social Science Research
Net
w
o
r
k
(
S
S
R
N
)
>
>
B
i
o
R
x
i
v
Research Square
arXiv
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What to consider
before selecting
a preprint server
Significant questions to answer are:
•	 What is your target audience? Choose
a server that targets this audience.
Note that when using a generic or multi-
	 disciplinary archive you can still do a lot
yourself for reaching your audience once
you have shared your document, like
sharing the link/DOI in post on mailings
lists and on social media.
•	 What services does the preprint server
offer to fit your needs? For example:
•	a PID (e.g., DOI) for your preprint
•	 basic quality checks (e.g., correct
metadata, plagiarism, completeness,
non-scientific content, health or
biosecurity risks)
•	 long-term guarantees that the preprint
server will stay online
•	 open licence schemes
•	 indexation by search engines, such as
Google Scholar
•	 services that support reviews and
endorsements
•	 services that support version
		 control and up-to-date preprints
afterrevisions.
This information can often be found on
the website of the preprint server. If not,
then contact the preprint server. For
further reading, a publication on preprint
servers’ policies was published in JAMA
with additional information on the
preprint server Research Square.
How to post
a preprint
What to consider before
posting a preprint
Check the journal’s policy.
Most journals allow preprints, but check the
journal’s preprint policy anyway before you
submit your paper. Sherpa Romeo collects
this information for journals. If the policy is
not clear or not findable, you can always ask
the journal’s editor.
Get co-author consent.
Make sure your co-authors consent to the
submission, including license type and
archive choice.
Share data, code and reagents
(where applicable).
Does your preprint have related data, code
or reagents? Consider sharing these as well,
link to their identifiers from the preprint
record and cite them in the preprint.
Preprint servers often offer the possibility
to already reserve a DOI when creating
a preprint record. This DOI can then be
included in the preprint document and also
cited from the data/code/reagents record.
Some preprint servers also act as data or
code repositories (like Zenodo or the Open
Science Framework), but most do not. Do
not forget to attach a licence to the data
and/or code as well. Please also check the
policy of your institution regarding sharing
data, code and reagents beforehand and/or
contact your library open access contact.
How to prepare
a preprint
A preprint should be prepared at least as well
as a journal submission, so make sure your
article’s structure is logical, the numbers add
up and the language is checked, preferably by
a native speaker.
How to upload
a preprint
Upload instructions differ between preprint
servers, but the process can be compared to
a journal’s submission process. It is expected
to at least enter the title and abstract of
the paper, state the co-author details and
upload the preprint file, but sometimes the
procedure is much more elaborate. Adding
metadata such as keywords will help the
findability of your paper.
What licence 			
to choose for
a preprint
Although attaching a licence to a preprint
is not always mandatory, it is highly
recommended so that it is clear how your
preprint can be (re)used and to make sure
that the copyright remains with the authors.
Many preprint servers provide a range
of open licences with different levels of
restriction to choose from. For an overview
of standard licence (Creative Commons)
types and tips for choosing a licence, see
this web page or for a more elaborate guide
go to this web page.
Keep in mind that the available and/or
required licences may differ per preprint
server and – if applicable – your research
funder. Please note that you can choose a
different licence for your preprint than for
the Version of Record.
Practical guide Practical guide
Photo: Shutterstock – sdecoret
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How to revise
a preprint
Most preprint servers support versioning,
meaning you can upload a new version of the
preprint while the old version is retained and
linked to the latest version. A common reason
for uploading a new version is feedback
received on the previous version. Note that
some servers also allow updates with a
postprint after journal-organised peer review.
How to withdraw
a preprint
Withdrawing a preprint is usually only
supported when there are substantial legal
or ethical concerns with the preprint. If
you have reasons for wanting your preprint
withdrawn, contact the preprint server.
How to link a
preprint to the 		
published journal 	
article
Some preprint servers automatically create
links to the published journal article and
add them to the metadata of the preprint.
If such a link doesn’t automatically show on
your preprint page, check with the preprint
server if you need to do it yourself or if
they can do it for you. Several journals add
links from the published article back to
the preprint. If the latter is not done, add a
footnote with the link to the preprint to the
manuscript that you’ll submit to the journal.
That increases the transparency of your
work.
Practical guide
When you search for information and
knowledge on the internet, you may wish
to read academic articles. Because of a
different validation process it may be useful
to understand the difference between an
academic article and an academic preprint.
A preprint resembles
a published article in an academic journal,
but it is not the same. What is different is
that a preprint generally is a preliminary
version of an academic article, shared with
the intent of quick communication and as
an invite for commentary.
For the public: How to interpret
For the public: How to interpret
the information in a preprint?
the information in a preprint?
Recognising the differences between
a preprint and a published article
Published academic articles have
undergone a form of peer review: the
editor of a journal asks scholars from
the same field to comment on the
draft of the paper to determine if the
underlying methods and reasoning are
sound and valid, and whether the paper
is suitable for publication. Journals apply
a multitude of models to peer review
articles. A small but increasing number
of journals use an open model of peer
review where the contents of the review
and sometimes even the identity of the
reviewers are openly available.
Generally speaking, a paper will only
be published if these comments are
processed well and the paper is adapted
by the authors. Thus, official peer review
aims to filter out invalid or poor-quality
articles – publication in a journal is
generally regarded as a quality stamp
(Please note that (formal) peer review
can considerably diminish, but not fully
prevent, the risk of low-quality research,
mistakes, bias or even fraud). But note
that neither does peer review guarantee
conclusiveness.
For preprints, things are different.
A preprint has not yet undergone peer
review at a journal. Generally, the
floor is still open for other researchers
(sometimes from other disciplines)
and the public to comment, make
suggestions and point out mistakes.
Therefore, preprints should not (yet)
be regarded as conclusive or guiding
specific behaviour. Academics post
preprints for several reasons, i.e., to
receive early feedback, to speed up
dissemination, and to make their work
available in open access.
Photo: Shutterstock – Lamai Prasitsuwan
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For the public: How to interpret the information in a preprint? For the public: How to interpret the information in a preprint?
How to recognise
a preprint?
•	 The first page of the preprint usually
states that you are dealing with a paper
that has not been officially “published”.
You may see words like ‘preprint’,
‘concept paper’, ‘working paper’ or ‘author
manuscript’ (not to be confused with
author’s accepted manuscript; which is
a peer reviewed but not yet “published”
version of a paper).
•	 A preprint is usually posted on a preprint
server (see > “Where to find a preprint
server”). Note that some preprint
servers also host the author’s accepted
manuscript and that some generic
platforms like Zenodo and Figshare can
host any versions of papers.
•	 Some preprint servers allow direct open
commenting on the preprint.
•	 Preprints may, like officially published
articles, have a persistent identifier (PID),
such as a DOI.
What to do if
a preprint seems 	
interesting?
Check if the preprint has an official
published article. This is usually mentioned
in the preprint or in the metadata record of
the preprint. If no information is available,
search on the internet for a published
article by using the title of the preprint.
If applicable, use the published article.
You may download it online or contact a
university library if you can’t access the
published article. Dutch university libraries
allow you to access scholarly papers on
campus, in the building. Always check first
if the library you aim to visit can give you
access to the particular article. A logistically
easier way is to send the author of the
article a request for a copy.
If the work has not been officially
published yet, you may perform a small
quality check by yourself:
1	 Check the references in the preprint:
are most references to other scholars’
published work?
2	 Check the author(s): use Google Scholar
to find out which articles the authors cite
themselves and in what context they place
their work
3	 Check earlier published work from the
author(s): have they published before? Has
that work been cited? Note: a beginning
researcher may not have published a
lot yet. In that case, co-authors with
the same affiliation are probably their
supervisors; they should be established
researchers in the field.
4	 Read critically, just as you would read
a regular article. Look out for related
comments and discussion and check
whether the underlying data is available.
Use your own (professional) network to
ask them to read along with you.
	 If you would like to use a preprint in
a news article, blog, presentation or
otherwise you may consider the following:
5	 When available, check the comments
on the article. On the server or on social
media. Undoubtedly other researchers
and scholars have already looked at the
preprint (that’s what it’s for) and have
made observations that help you in
interpreting.
6	 Check when the preprint was published. If
it was published very recently, you might
want to hold off for a moment and let the
scientific community do its thing.
7	 When referring to the preprint, tell your
audience that it hasn’t been peer reviewed
yet, and explain that it should not (yet) be
regarded as conclusive or guide specific
behaviour.
8	 As with any information, also consider
contacting someone with knowledge on
the subject. Either for an opposing view, or
just for context.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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1
	
Where to find a
	 preprint server
	
Preprints are most commonly found
on preprint servers but are also shared
elsewhere, such as in institutional or
national repositories, on commercial
social networks for academics such
as ResearchGate or on a researcher’s
website. Wikipedia maintains a list of
preprint servers. ASAPbio also keeps
an updated list of preprint servers.
See also 2.
2
	
Do search engines discover
	 my preprints?
	
Most preprint servers are indexed by
major search engines like Google Scholar
and academic information databases
like Dimensions, LENS and EuropePMC.
There are websites, like the Open Science
Framework preprint search that aggregate
metadata and abstracts for preprints from
various sources.
4
	
Will my research be scooped 	
	 if I share it in a preprint 	
	 before it’s accepted for 	
	publication?
	
Always attach a licence to your preprint
so others have to cite it. Are you making
yourself more vulnerable by sharing a
preprint? Posting a preprint is not that
different from presenting your research at
a congress or publishing an abstract: they
all contain your ideas. Openly sharing a
preprint has the advantage that you put a
timestamp on your work. This timestamp
can establish the priority of discovery.
5
	
Can I post a preprint on
	 for example Blackboard,
	 my personal website or
	 ResearchGate and Academia.	
	edu?
	
Yes, you can post a preprint anywhere
you like, as long as your co-authors
agree. However, compared to a
commercial academic social network, like
ResearchGate, a preprint server will more
likely target your intended audience, and
trustworthy, dedicated, preprint servers
offer many other advantages (see ‘What
to consider before selecting a preprint
server’ on page 10).
3
	
Is sharing preprints good 	
	 for my career?
	
Sharing preprints is a way to receive
feedback and attract attention to your
research at an early stage, which positively
benefits the quality and impact of your
research. Sharing preprints may also lead
to new collaborations. Preprints are not
yet incorporated into the official reward
systems for science in the same way as
journal publications are. However, the
Dutch NWO and ZonMw accepts preprints
as research output when applying for
some of their research programmes.
With the continuous furthering of the
Open Science movement, a broader
acceptance of preprints is about to
happen. This becomes clear in the
UK (where preprints are allowed to
be included in the current Research
Excellence Framework (REF21)) and the
European Research Council (ERC).
FAQ
6
	
Can preprint commentary 	
	 harm my paper?
	
	 In general, commentary and community
feedback on your preprints can help you
improve your paper. You may also use this
feedback to inform the journal editor after
submission. Occasionally, commentary
may be harmful – for example, if you post
a preprint with known flaws, you still
need to correct. “Most people are going
to read your manuscript only once and
you don’t get a second chance to make
a first impression” (John Inglis, co-founder
of bioRxiv and medRxiv). However, most
authors very rarely experience any
negative consequences of
preprint posting.
Detlef Lohse – [professor Physics of
Fluids at the University of Twente; author,
referee, editor, and user of arXiv for over
30 years]:
‘Papers that are also on arXiv are seen
faster and more often, and are cited
more often than papers that are not also
on arXiv. So your article on arXiv is more
accessible to the reader, as quickly as
possible. When you submit an article,
you want others to be able to read it
and send you commentary, so you’ll be
able to improve the final version. So it’s
in everyone’s interest to use arXiv. As the
author, you’ll not only receive feedback
from referees and the editor, but also
from other people in the community
who’ve read your work. It’s good for
everyone.’
FAQ
A Practical Guide to Preprints
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FAQ
7
	
How can I cite someone 	
	 else’s preprint in my 		
	 academic article?
	
Check with your journal. Most journals
do allow citing preprints in a similar way
to citing peer reviewed academic papers.
Detlef Lohse – [professor Physics of
Fluids at the University of Twente; author,
referee, editor, and user of arXiv for over
30 years]:
‘About citing a preprint in your article:
It doesn’t make a difference for Google
Scholar. It does make a difference for
Web of Science, but when you submit
an article with citations to preprints, the
publisher of a good journal will check if
the published version is already available.
If so, then the publisher will make sure
that your article cites the version in
the journal. So it’s never a problem for
good journals.’
8
	
Can I upload my preprint to 	
	 the Institutional Repository 	
	 of my university?
	
This differs per university. It is best to
contact the local open access support at
the university library for guidance.
Glossary
Altmetrics
	 Non-traditional bibliometrics such as
downloads, mentions, views or
recommendations > more info.
Author’s accepted manuscript
An author’s accepted manuscript
or postprint is the version that has
undergone peer review and has been
accepted for publication by an academic
journal, conference proceedings or book
series. It has not undergone any type-
	setting or copy-editing. An author’s
accepted manuscript can often be
shared open access with the public
through a repository, generally after
an embargo period.
Creative Commons licences
	 A set of rights that a researcher can
assign to academic output. These
licences are often used for open access
publications and data. > more info
DOI
A Digital Object Identifier is a
neverchanging reference (see: Persistent
Identifier) to an online object such as
an article or a data set. This means in
practice that if the current URL changes
over time, the DOI will continue to
resolve to the right resources at their
new locations.
Institutional Repository
An archive for collecting, preserving,
and disseminating digital copies of the
intellectual output of an institution,
particularly a research institution.
Open access
	 Freely accessible and freely reusable
academic works.
Persistent Identifier
	 A persistent identifier (PI or PID) is
a long-lasting digital reference to a
document, file, web page, or other object.
Postprint
	 See author’s accepted manuscript.
Preprint
	 Preprints are “[academic] manuscripts that
have not been peer reviewed, type-set or
published in a traditional publishing venue.
Published article
The published article or version of record
is copy-edited, typeset, formatted and
subsequently published (online and/or in
print) in an academic journal, conference
proceedings or book. The published article
is available either by subscription or by
open access.
Sherpa Romeo
An online resource that aggregates and
analyses publishers’ open access policies
worldwide, and provides summaries of
publisher copyright and open access
archiving policies on a journal-by-journal
basis. > more info
Version of Record
See Published article.
Working paper
In general, a working paper is a draft
paper which may still be under active
development. A working paper may lead
to a preprint, postprint and/or published
article.
Photo: Shutterstock – Production Perig
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A Practical Guide to Preprints
Attribution and
Acknowledgements
The answers to the most common
questions about preprints and the points
in the practical guide were largely inspired
by the Open Science Framework Preprint
FAQ, the ASAPbio preprint FAQ and the
Knowledge Exchange report “Accelerating
scholarly communication: The transformative
role of preprints”.
This guide has been written by:
Kristina Hettne
k.m.hettne@library.leidenuniv.nl
orcid: 0000-0002-4182-7560
Ron Aardening
r.aardening@maastrichtuniversity.nl
orcid: 0000-0002-2932-4901
Chantal Hukkelhoven
chantal.hukkelhoven@wur.nl
orcid: 0000-0001-5020-1883
Dirk van Gorp
dirk.vangorp@ru.nl
orcid: 0000-0001-7803-5252
Nicole Loorbach
n.r.loorbach@utwente.nl
orcid: 0000-0002-2766-8567
Jeroen Sondervan
j.sondervan@uu.nl
orcid: 0000-0002-9866-0239
Astrid van Wesenbeeck
astrid.vanwesenbeeck@kb.nl
orcid: 0000-0001-8183-870X
We would like to thank for critically
reviewing the text:
•	 Bianca Kramer (Utrecht University)
•	 Jeroen Bosman (Utrecht University)
•	 Hans de Jonge (Dutch Research
Council – NWO)
•	 Serge Bauin (Centre national de la
recherche scientifique, CNRS)
•	 Sicco de Knecht (Utrecht University)
October 2021
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5600535
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20
A Practical Guide to Preprints

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A practical guide to preprints 1.0

  • 1. A Practical Guide to Preprints Accelerating Scholarly Communication
  • 2. In Open Science and academic publishing, the preprint increasingly appears on the radar as an important element in academic communication. By posting preprints, academics can rapidly share their findings and build upon each other’s work. Consequently, the number of preprint servers is growing, more and more funders encourage researchers to make their work open access via a preprint, an increasing number of publishers allow authors to post a preprint before submission, and preprints are indexed in search engines like Google Scholar, Dimensions, Lens and OSF preprints. Scopus includes preprints in author profiles. This is a practical and informative guide for researchers on how to post and use preprints, and for the general public (journalists, patients, healthcare workers, etc.) on how to interpret the research published through preprints. Terms in orange are explained in the Glossary. Introduction Introduction 3 What are preprints? 4 Pros and cons of preprints 6 What are the disciplinary aspects and recent developments around preprints? 7 Practical guide 9 Where to find a preprint server 9 What to consider before selecting a preprint server 10 How to post a preprint 10 How to prepare a preprint 11 How to upload a preprint 11 What licence to choose for a preprint 11 How to revise a preprint 12 How to withdraw a preprint 12 How to link a preprint to the published journal article 12 For the public: How to interpret the information in a preprint? 13 Recognising the differences between a preprint and a published article 13 How to recognise a preprint? 14 What to do if a preprint seems interesting? 14 FAQ 16 Glossary 19 Contents Photo: Shutterstock – enterlinedesign A Practical Guide to Preprints 3 BACK TO CONTENTS 2 A Practical Guide to Preprints
  • 3. Other versions of academic papers include ‘working paper’, ‘manuscript’, ‘postprint’ (also known as ‘author’s accepted manuscript’)’ and ‘published version’ (also known as ‘version of record’)’. The differences between them are shown in figure 1 and further explained in the glossary. Preprints are considered as part of the scholarly record. Scholars cannot delete their preprints from a preprint server. However, preprints can be withdrawn. The preprint server will remove the preprint, but basic metadata such as title, authors and the reason for withdrawal will be left visible. Most established preprint servers have policies regarding withdrawal that are worth checking. > link 1 > link 2 > link 3 What are preprints? In this guide, we use the following definition of preprints: Preprints are “[academic] manuscripts that have not been peer reviewed or published in a traditional publishing venue (e.g., journal, conference proceeding, book)” (Malički et al., 2020, p.1901). > more info Preprints should not (yet) be regarded as conclusive or guiding specific behaviour. Not all preprints will eventually be published in an academic journal. Academics mainly post preprints to receive early feedback and community review, to speed up dissemination, and to make their work available in open access. > more info Preprints are shared publicly, usually on a preprint server – also known as preprint archive. But commercial social networks for academics like ResearchGate and Academia. edu and researchers’ own websites are also used for sharing preprints, even though these alternatives are less suitable (see FAQ nr 6). Most preprint servers give papers a unique and persistent identifier (PID), such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), making it easy to include them in reference lists. With a PID, preprints can also be indexed by major search engines and tools providing altmetrics. The DOI assigned to the preprint differs from the DOI that the publisher gives to the accepted and published version of the same article. FIGURE 1 THE PLACE FOR PREPRINTS IN THE PUBLICATION WORKFLOW. Introduction Introduction Photo: Shutterstock – BrAt82 PREPRINTS Scientist Manuscript Months to years Review process Journal Preprint server Days Editor Publication preprint Community review Publication journal A Practical Guide to Preprints A Practical Guide to Preprints 5 4 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS
  • 4. Pros and cons of preprints Sharing a preprint has both advantages and disadvantages. Overall, the benefits outweigh the risks. In the figure below you can find an overview of the pros and cons for researchers only (left part) and for both researchers and the general public (right part of the figure). The icons of the advantages are coloured green, whereas the icons of the disadvantages have the color red. What are the disciplinary aspects and recent developments around preprints? Professionally, systematically and publicly sharing preprints can be traced back to the early 1990s, with arXiv being the best known and largest example. Physics was the first subject area with a growing number of preprints, followed by mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, economics, and electrical engineering and systems science. In 1994, the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN) was founded. It is generally used as a preprint server for disciplines like economics, law and political sciences. Three years later, eco- nomics-focused RePeC followed – not as a preprint server per se, but as an aggregator of preprints and working papers placed throughout repositories. For a long time, the practice of preprints was mainly seen in the aforementioned academic disciplines and on these main servers. In the mid-2000s, attention for posting preprints also grew in other domains. In 2007, Nature came up with Nature Proceedings for biomedical sciences, chemistry and earth sciences. However, this server ceased activity in 2012. In 2013, bioRxiv was founded for the biomedical disciplines, which is now one of the largest preprint servers. In 2016, the Open Science Framework (OSF), which is part of the Center for Open Science project, started to host their own first batch of initially psychology-focused FIGURE 2 THE PROS AND CONS OF PREPRINT FOR RESEARCHERS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC Introduction Introduction preprint servers. The OSF currently caters to a wide range of subject areas, though it is most commonly used by Social Sciences & Humanities researchers. One of the latest additions to the pre- print-server families is medRxiv for the medical disciplines, founded in 2019. The recent COVID-19 health crisis has seen a massive increase in preprint deposits, not only in biomedical and health research but also in other disciplines like sociology, psychology and communication studies, as figure 3 on the next page shows. An increasing number of publishers host their own preprint archives. Major examples are ‘First Look’ (now part of Elsevier-owned SSRN), Research Square (Springer Nature), Authorea (Wiley) and Preprints.org (MDPI). These archives allow preprints to be linked to a specific journal at an early stage, which makes it something of a middle ground between open access early sharing and more traditional publishing. Some journals/platforms (F1000 Research, Open Research Europe, Wellcome Open Research) have certain preprint-like characteristics, like early online access and/or parallel community review. However, these should not be confused with preprint servers, as they use certain organized editorial elements that preprint servers lack. Finally, there are efforts being put forward to bridge the gap between non-reviewed preprint and peer-reviewed journal articles. For example, eLife makes it possible to place journal-mediated peer review reports with the preprint, Review Commons offers journal-independent peer-review of preprints, and Peer Community In goes a step further by also recommending preprints based on journal-independent peer-review. FOR RESEARCHERS FOR RESEARCHERS AND THE PUBLIC Very short time-to- publish Free access to work Recognition of your work Everybody can comment Early feedback Can be cited, if DOI available Open Licences Accelerate science by rapidly building upon each other’s work Increased visibility Earlier development of potential collaborations Very low costs A few journals do not accept manuscripts previously published as preprints Novelty and quality of research not validated: harder to distinguish between low- and high-quality research Risk of pseudoscience A Practical Guide to Preprints A Practical Guide to Preprints 7 6 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS
  • 5. Introduction Posted Date Source Preprints FIGURE 3 COVID-19 PREPRINTS SUBMITTED PER MONTH FROM 2020-02-01 TO 2021-09-29 Source: https://github.com/nicholasmfraser/covid19_preprints medRxiv Research Square SSRN RePEc bioRxiv arXiv ResearchGate JMIR OSF Preprints Authorea Preprints.org PsyArXiv (OSF) SocArXiv (OSF) ChemRxiv SciELO Zenodo Figshare SAGE Other* * Other refers to preprint repositories containing <100 total relevant preprints. These include: AfricArXiv (OSF), AgriXiv (OSF), BioHackrXiv (OSF), Cambridge University Press, Copernicus GmbH, EcoEvoRxiv (OSF), EdArXiv (OSF), engrXiv (OSF), ESSOAR, Frenxiv (OSF), INA-Rxiv (OSF), IndiaRxiv (OSF), LawArXiv (OSF), MediArXiv (OSF), MetaArXiV (OSF), NutriXiv (OSF), ScienceOpen, SportRxiv (OSF), Techrxiv (IEEE), WHO. FIGURE 4 SERVERS PLOTTED PER ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE. NOTE THAT THIS IMAGE ONLY CONTAINS A LIMITED SELECTION OF SERVERS. This guide aims to provide recommen- dations for selecting a preprint server and for posting a preprint. It was largely inspired by the ASAPbio preprint FAQ. Where to find a preprint server Wikipedia maintains a list of preprint servers. ASAPbio also keeps an updated list of preprint servers. Figure 4 shows a number of preprint servers and their focus on specific disciplines. Practical guide AgriRXiv ChemRxiv EarthArXiv EcoEvoRxiv engrXiv RePEc BodoArxiv PaleorXiv Hprints LawArXiv LAW ECONOMICS STEM HEALTH SOCIAL SCIENCES HUMANTITIES SocArXiv PsyArXiv EdArXiv MedRxiv All disciplines Zenodo HAL << Social Science Research Net w o r k ( S S R N ) > > B i o R x i v Research Square arXiv A Practical Guide to Preprints A Practical Guide to Preprints 9 8 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS
  • 6. What to consider before selecting a preprint server Significant questions to answer are: • What is your target audience? Choose a server that targets this audience. Note that when using a generic or multi- disciplinary archive you can still do a lot yourself for reaching your audience once you have shared your document, like sharing the link/DOI in post on mailings lists and on social media. • What services does the preprint server offer to fit your needs? For example: • a PID (e.g., DOI) for your preprint • basic quality checks (e.g., correct metadata, plagiarism, completeness, non-scientific content, health or biosecurity risks) • long-term guarantees that the preprint server will stay online • open licence schemes • indexation by search engines, such as Google Scholar • services that support reviews and endorsements • services that support version control and up-to-date preprints afterrevisions. This information can often be found on the website of the preprint server. If not, then contact the preprint server. For further reading, a publication on preprint servers’ policies was published in JAMA with additional information on the preprint server Research Square. How to post a preprint What to consider before posting a preprint Check the journal’s policy. Most journals allow preprints, but check the journal’s preprint policy anyway before you submit your paper. Sherpa Romeo collects this information for journals. If the policy is not clear or not findable, you can always ask the journal’s editor. Get co-author consent. Make sure your co-authors consent to the submission, including license type and archive choice. Share data, code and reagents (where applicable). Does your preprint have related data, code or reagents? Consider sharing these as well, link to their identifiers from the preprint record and cite them in the preprint. Preprint servers often offer the possibility to already reserve a DOI when creating a preprint record. This DOI can then be included in the preprint document and also cited from the data/code/reagents record. Some preprint servers also act as data or code repositories (like Zenodo or the Open Science Framework), but most do not. Do not forget to attach a licence to the data and/or code as well. Please also check the policy of your institution regarding sharing data, code and reagents beforehand and/or contact your library open access contact. How to prepare a preprint A preprint should be prepared at least as well as a journal submission, so make sure your article’s structure is logical, the numbers add up and the language is checked, preferably by a native speaker. How to upload a preprint Upload instructions differ between preprint servers, but the process can be compared to a journal’s submission process. It is expected to at least enter the title and abstract of the paper, state the co-author details and upload the preprint file, but sometimes the procedure is much more elaborate. Adding metadata such as keywords will help the findability of your paper. What licence to choose for a preprint Although attaching a licence to a preprint is not always mandatory, it is highly recommended so that it is clear how your preprint can be (re)used and to make sure that the copyright remains with the authors. Many preprint servers provide a range of open licences with different levels of restriction to choose from. For an overview of standard licence (Creative Commons) types and tips for choosing a licence, see this web page or for a more elaborate guide go to this web page. Keep in mind that the available and/or required licences may differ per preprint server and – if applicable – your research funder. Please note that you can choose a different licence for your preprint than for the Version of Record. Practical guide Practical guide Photo: Shutterstock – sdecoret A Practical Guide to Preprints A Practical Guide to Preprints 11 10 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS
  • 7. How to revise a preprint Most preprint servers support versioning, meaning you can upload a new version of the preprint while the old version is retained and linked to the latest version. A common reason for uploading a new version is feedback received on the previous version. Note that some servers also allow updates with a postprint after journal-organised peer review. How to withdraw a preprint Withdrawing a preprint is usually only supported when there are substantial legal or ethical concerns with the preprint. If you have reasons for wanting your preprint withdrawn, contact the preprint server. How to link a preprint to the published journal article Some preprint servers automatically create links to the published journal article and add them to the metadata of the preprint. If such a link doesn’t automatically show on your preprint page, check with the preprint server if you need to do it yourself or if they can do it for you. Several journals add links from the published article back to the preprint. If the latter is not done, add a footnote with the link to the preprint to the manuscript that you’ll submit to the journal. That increases the transparency of your work. Practical guide When you search for information and knowledge on the internet, you may wish to read academic articles. Because of a different validation process it may be useful to understand the difference between an academic article and an academic preprint. A preprint resembles a published article in an academic journal, but it is not the same. What is different is that a preprint generally is a preliminary version of an academic article, shared with the intent of quick communication and as an invite for commentary. For the public: How to interpret For the public: How to interpret the information in a preprint? the information in a preprint? Recognising the differences between a preprint and a published article Published academic articles have undergone a form of peer review: the editor of a journal asks scholars from the same field to comment on the draft of the paper to determine if the underlying methods and reasoning are sound and valid, and whether the paper is suitable for publication. Journals apply a multitude of models to peer review articles. A small but increasing number of journals use an open model of peer review where the contents of the review and sometimes even the identity of the reviewers are openly available. Generally speaking, a paper will only be published if these comments are processed well and the paper is adapted by the authors. Thus, official peer review aims to filter out invalid or poor-quality articles – publication in a journal is generally regarded as a quality stamp (Please note that (formal) peer review can considerably diminish, but not fully prevent, the risk of low-quality research, mistakes, bias or even fraud). But note that neither does peer review guarantee conclusiveness. For preprints, things are different. A preprint has not yet undergone peer review at a journal. Generally, the floor is still open for other researchers (sometimes from other disciplines) and the public to comment, make suggestions and point out mistakes. Therefore, preprints should not (yet) be regarded as conclusive or guiding specific behaviour. Academics post preprints for several reasons, i.e., to receive early feedback, to speed up dissemination, and to make their work available in open access. Photo: Shutterstock – Lamai Prasitsuwan A Practical Guide to Preprints A Practical Guide to Preprints 13 12 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS
  • 8. For the public: How to interpret the information in a preprint? For the public: How to interpret the information in a preprint? How to recognise a preprint? • The first page of the preprint usually states that you are dealing with a paper that has not been officially “published”. You may see words like ‘preprint’, ‘concept paper’, ‘working paper’ or ‘author manuscript’ (not to be confused with author’s accepted manuscript; which is a peer reviewed but not yet “published” version of a paper). • A preprint is usually posted on a preprint server (see > “Where to find a preprint server”). Note that some preprint servers also host the author’s accepted manuscript and that some generic platforms like Zenodo and Figshare can host any versions of papers. • Some preprint servers allow direct open commenting on the preprint. • Preprints may, like officially published articles, have a persistent identifier (PID), such as a DOI. What to do if a preprint seems interesting? Check if the preprint has an official published article. This is usually mentioned in the preprint or in the metadata record of the preprint. If no information is available, search on the internet for a published article by using the title of the preprint. If applicable, use the published article. You may download it online or contact a university library if you can’t access the published article. Dutch university libraries allow you to access scholarly papers on campus, in the building. Always check first if the library you aim to visit can give you access to the particular article. A logistically easier way is to send the author of the article a request for a copy. If the work has not been officially published yet, you may perform a small quality check by yourself: 1 Check the references in the preprint: are most references to other scholars’ published work? 2 Check the author(s): use Google Scholar to find out which articles the authors cite themselves and in what context they place their work 3 Check earlier published work from the author(s): have they published before? Has that work been cited? Note: a beginning researcher may not have published a lot yet. In that case, co-authors with the same affiliation are probably their supervisors; they should be established researchers in the field. 4 Read critically, just as you would read a regular article. Look out for related comments and discussion and check whether the underlying data is available. Use your own (professional) network to ask them to read along with you. If you would like to use a preprint in a news article, blog, presentation or otherwise you may consider the following: 5 When available, check the comments on the article. On the server or on social media. Undoubtedly other researchers and scholars have already looked at the preprint (that’s what it’s for) and have made observations that help you in interpreting. 6 Check when the preprint was published. If it was published very recently, you might want to hold off for a moment and let the scientific community do its thing. 7 When referring to the preprint, tell your audience that it hasn’t been peer reviewed yet, and explain that it should not (yet) be regarded as conclusive or guide specific behaviour. 8 As with any information, also consider contacting someone with knowledge on the subject. Either for an opposing view, or just for context. Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash A Practical Guide to Preprints A Practical Guide to Preprints 15 14 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS
  • 9. 1 Where to find a preprint server Preprints are most commonly found on preprint servers but are also shared elsewhere, such as in institutional or national repositories, on commercial social networks for academics such as ResearchGate or on a researcher’s website. Wikipedia maintains a list of preprint servers. ASAPbio also keeps an updated list of preprint servers. See also 2. 2 Do search engines discover my preprints? Most preprint servers are indexed by major search engines like Google Scholar and academic information databases like Dimensions, LENS and EuropePMC. There are websites, like the Open Science Framework preprint search that aggregate metadata and abstracts for preprints from various sources. 4 Will my research be scooped if I share it in a preprint before it’s accepted for publication? Always attach a licence to your preprint so others have to cite it. Are you making yourself more vulnerable by sharing a preprint? Posting a preprint is not that different from presenting your research at a congress or publishing an abstract: they all contain your ideas. Openly sharing a preprint has the advantage that you put a timestamp on your work. This timestamp can establish the priority of discovery. 5 Can I post a preprint on for example Blackboard, my personal website or ResearchGate and Academia. edu? Yes, you can post a preprint anywhere you like, as long as your co-authors agree. However, compared to a commercial academic social network, like ResearchGate, a preprint server will more likely target your intended audience, and trustworthy, dedicated, preprint servers offer many other advantages (see ‘What to consider before selecting a preprint server’ on page 10). 3 Is sharing preprints good for my career? Sharing preprints is a way to receive feedback and attract attention to your research at an early stage, which positively benefits the quality and impact of your research. Sharing preprints may also lead to new collaborations. Preprints are not yet incorporated into the official reward systems for science in the same way as journal publications are. However, the Dutch NWO and ZonMw accepts preprints as research output when applying for some of their research programmes. With the continuous furthering of the Open Science movement, a broader acceptance of preprints is about to happen. This becomes clear in the UK (where preprints are allowed to be included in the current Research Excellence Framework (REF21)) and the European Research Council (ERC). FAQ 6 Can preprint commentary harm my paper? In general, commentary and community feedback on your preprints can help you improve your paper. You may also use this feedback to inform the journal editor after submission. Occasionally, commentary may be harmful – for example, if you post a preprint with known flaws, you still need to correct. “Most people are going to read your manuscript only once and you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression” (John Inglis, co-founder of bioRxiv and medRxiv). However, most authors very rarely experience any negative consequences of preprint posting. Detlef Lohse – [professor Physics of Fluids at the University of Twente; author, referee, editor, and user of arXiv for over 30 years]: ‘Papers that are also on arXiv are seen faster and more often, and are cited more often than papers that are not also on arXiv. So your article on arXiv is more accessible to the reader, as quickly as possible. When you submit an article, you want others to be able to read it and send you commentary, so you’ll be able to improve the final version. So it’s in everyone’s interest to use arXiv. As the author, you’ll not only receive feedback from referees and the editor, but also from other people in the community who’ve read your work. It’s good for everyone.’ FAQ A Practical Guide to Preprints A Practical Guide to Preprints 17 16 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS
  • 10. FAQ 7 How can I cite someone else’s preprint in my academic article? Check with your journal. Most journals do allow citing preprints in a similar way to citing peer reviewed academic papers. Detlef Lohse – [professor Physics of Fluids at the University of Twente; author, referee, editor, and user of arXiv for over 30 years]: ‘About citing a preprint in your article: It doesn’t make a difference for Google Scholar. It does make a difference for Web of Science, but when you submit an article with citations to preprints, the publisher of a good journal will check if the published version is already available. If so, then the publisher will make sure that your article cites the version in the journal. So it’s never a problem for good journals.’ 8 Can I upload my preprint to the Institutional Repository of my university? This differs per university. It is best to contact the local open access support at the university library for guidance. Glossary Altmetrics Non-traditional bibliometrics such as downloads, mentions, views or recommendations > more info. Author’s accepted manuscript An author’s accepted manuscript or postprint is the version that has undergone peer review and has been accepted for publication by an academic journal, conference proceedings or book series. It has not undergone any type- setting or copy-editing. An author’s accepted manuscript can often be shared open access with the public through a repository, generally after an embargo period. Creative Commons licences A set of rights that a researcher can assign to academic output. These licences are often used for open access publications and data. > more info DOI A Digital Object Identifier is a neverchanging reference (see: Persistent Identifier) to an online object such as an article or a data set. This means in practice that if the current URL changes over time, the DOI will continue to resolve to the right resources at their new locations. Institutional Repository An archive for collecting, preserving, and disseminating digital copies of the intellectual output of an institution, particularly a research institution. Open access Freely accessible and freely reusable academic works. Persistent Identifier A persistent identifier (PI or PID) is a long-lasting digital reference to a document, file, web page, or other object. Postprint See author’s accepted manuscript. Preprint Preprints are “[academic] manuscripts that have not been peer reviewed, type-set or published in a traditional publishing venue. Published article The published article or version of record is copy-edited, typeset, formatted and subsequently published (online and/or in print) in an academic journal, conference proceedings or book. The published article is available either by subscription or by open access. Sherpa Romeo An online resource that aggregates and analyses publishers’ open access policies worldwide, and provides summaries of publisher copyright and open access archiving policies on a journal-by-journal basis. > more info Version of Record See Published article. Working paper In general, a working paper is a draft paper which may still be under active development. A working paper may lead to a preprint, postprint and/or published article. Photo: Shutterstock – Production Perig A Practical Guide to Preprints 19 18 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS A Practical Guide to Preprints
  • 11. Attribution and Acknowledgements The answers to the most common questions about preprints and the points in the practical guide were largely inspired by the Open Science Framework Preprint FAQ, the ASAPbio preprint FAQ and the Knowledge Exchange report “Accelerating scholarly communication: The transformative role of preprints”. This guide has been written by: Kristina Hettne k.m.hettne@library.leidenuniv.nl orcid: 0000-0002-4182-7560 Ron Aardening r.aardening@maastrichtuniversity.nl orcid: 0000-0002-2932-4901 Chantal Hukkelhoven chantal.hukkelhoven@wur.nl orcid: 0000-0001-5020-1883 Dirk van Gorp dirk.vangorp@ru.nl orcid: 0000-0001-7803-5252 Nicole Loorbach n.r.loorbach@utwente.nl orcid: 0000-0002-2766-8567 Jeroen Sondervan j.sondervan@uu.nl orcid: 0000-0002-9866-0239 Astrid van Wesenbeeck astrid.vanwesenbeeck@kb.nl orcid: 0000-0001-8183-870X We would like to thank for critically reviewing the text: • Bianca Kramer (Utrecht University) • Jeroen Bosman (Utrecht University) • Hans de Jonge (Dutch Research Council – NWO) • Serge Bauin (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) • Sicco de Knecht (Utrecht University) October 2021 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5600535 BACK TO CONTENTS 20 A Practical Guide to Preprints