Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Tracking the popularity and outcomes of all bioRxiv preprints

View ORCID ProfileRichard J. Abdill, View ORCID ProfileRan Blekhman
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/515643
Richard J. Abdill
1Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Richard J. Abdill
Ran Blekhman
1Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
2Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Ran Blekhman
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Researchers in the life sciences are posting their work to preprint servers at an unprecedented and increasing rate, sharing papers online before (or instead of) publication in peer-reviewed journals. Though the popularity and practical benefits of preprints are driving policy changes at journals and funding organizations, there is little bibliometric data available to measure trends in their usage. Here, we collected and analyzed data on all 37,648 preprints that were uploaded to bioRxiv.org, the largest biology-focused preprint server, in its first five years. We find that preprints on bioRxiv are being read more than ever before (1.1 million downloads in October 2018 alone) and that the rate of preprints being posted has increased to a recent high of more than 2,100 per month. We also find that two-thirds of bioRxiv preprints posted in 2016 or earlier were later published in peer-reviewed journals, and that the majority of published preprints appeared in a journal less than six months after being posted. We evaluate which journals have published the most preprints, and find that preprints with more downloads are likely to be published in journals with a higher impact factor. Lastly, we developed Rxivist.org, a website for downloading and interacting programmatically with indexed metadata on bioRxiv preprints.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted January 13, 2019.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Tracking the popularity and outcomes of all bioRxiv preprints
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Tracking the popularity and outcomes of all bioRxiv preprints
Richard J. Abdill, Ran Blekhman
bioRxiv 515643; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/515643
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Tracking the popularity and outcomes of all bioRxiv preprints
Richard J. Abdill, Ran Blekhman
bioRxiv 515643; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/515643

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Scientific Communication and Education
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3686)
  • Biochemistry (7774)
  • Bioengineering (5668)
  • Bioinformatics (21245)
  • Biophysics (10563)
  • Cancer Biology (8162)
  • Cell Biology (11915)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6738)
  • Ecology (10388)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13843)
  • Genetics (9694)
  • Genomics (13056)
  • Immunology (8123)
  • Microbiology (19956)
  • Molecular Biology (7833)
  • Neuroscience (42973)
  • Paleontology (318)
  • Pathology (1276)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2256)
  • Physiology (3350)
  • Plant Biology (7208)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1309)
  • Synthetic Biology (1999)
  • Systems Biology (5528)
  • Zoology (1126)