RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 bioRxiv: the preprint server for biology
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 833400
DO 10.1101/833400
A1 Richard Sever
A1 Ted Roeder
A1 Samantha Hindle
A1 Linda Sussman
A1 Kevin-John Black
A1 Janet Argentine
A1 Wayne Manos
A1 John R. Inglis
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/06/833400.abstract
AB The traditional publication process delays dissemination of new research, often by months, sometimes by years. Preprint servers decouple dissemination of research papers from their evaluation and certification by journals, allowing researchers to share work immediately, receive feedback from a much larger audience, and provide evidence of productivity long before formal publication. Launched in 2013 as a non-profit community service, the bioRxiv server has brought preprint practice to the life sciences and recently posted its 64,000th manuscript. The server now receives more than four million views per month and hosts papers spanning all areas of biology. Initially dominated by evolutionary biology, genetics/genomics and computational biology, bioRxiv has been increasingly populated by papers in neuroscience, cell and developmental biology, and many other fields. Changes in journal and funder policies that encourage preprint posting have helped drive adoption, as has the development of bioRxiv technologies that allow authors to transfer papers easily between the server and journals. A bioRxiv user survey found that 42% of authors post their preprints prior to journal submission whereas 37% post concurrently with journal submission. Authors are motivated by a desire to share work early; they value the feedback they receive, and very rarely experience any negative consequences of preprint posting. Rapid dissemination via bioRxiv is also encouraging new initiatives that experiment with the peer review process and the development of novel approaches to literature filtering and assessment.