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Pre-Prints!

David Smailes; david.smailes@northumbria.ac.uk

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Before we start…

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Before we start…

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Outline

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  • Traditional publication process
  • Pre-printing
  • Benefits and risks
  • Practical guidance

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Typical Publication Process

  • Run study
  • Write it up
  • Submit for publication at a journal…

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Typical Publication Process

  • Even if you only get one round of reviews, get accepted at ‘target’ journal, takes a long time…
    • Smailes et al. (2014):
      • Received 24 September 2013.
      • Accepted 02 April 2014.
      • Published online 13 April 2014.
      • Just under 7 months…

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Typical Publication Process

  • Even if you only get one round of reviews, get accepted at ‘target’ journal, takes a long time…
    • Smailes et al. (2015):
      • Received 03 September 2013.
      • Accepted 01 October 2014.
      • Published online 27 October 2014.
      • Just under 14 months…

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Typical Publication Process

  • Even if you only get one round of reviews, get accepted at ‘target’ journal, takes a long time…
    • Smailes et al. (2020):
      • Received 30 May 2018
      • Accepted 29 September 2019.
      • Published online 06 December 2019.
      • Just over 18 months…

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Pre-printing – Typical Process

  • Just before/at the same time as you submit to a journal, post the manuscript as a preprint.

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  • At this point:
    • Submit the manuscript to a preprint server.

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  • At this point:
    • Submit the manuscript to a preprint server.

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  • Can update the preprint at this point (if you want to).

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Pre-printing – Typical Process

  • Why?
  • Preprinting at this stage brings a few benefits:
    • Speeds up how soon your peers can read your work.
    • Makes your work ‘open access’ immediately.

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Pre-printing – Typical Process

  • Why?
  • Preprinting at this stage brings a few benefits:
    • Speeds up how soon your peers can read your work.
      • Is your work super important?
        • Preprinting = telling others sooner!
      • Are you about to finish your PhD and have several papers about to go ‘under review’?
        • Preprinting = can impress recruiters with your work (not ‘hidden’ in peer review).

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Pre-printing – Less Typical Processes

  • Not the only ‘way’ to preprint…

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Pre-printing – Less Typical Processes

  • Why?
  • Traditional peer review is often not effective.
    • Goldacre et al. (2019).
    • Syed (2024).
  • Possible that asking ‘genuine peers’ to review your preprint may be more effective…

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Pre-printing – Less Typical Processes

  • Not the only ‘way’ to preprint…

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Pre-printing – Less Typical Processes

  • What?
  • Have you done something interesting, but messy?
  • Something sensible, but unsure of how much it adds?
  • Just preprint it…

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Pre-printing – Less Typical Processes

  • Why?
  • Have you done something interesting, but messy?
  • Something sensible, but unsure of how much it adds?
  • Just preprint it…

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Pre-printing – Less Typical Processes

  • Why?
  • A pretty good piece of work is available for others to read/use.
    • 94 downloads.
  • Useful to the student:
    • Evidence that they do good work.
    • Evidence that they care about dissemination.

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Pre-printing – Benefits

  • Speeds up dissemination.
  • May allow you to receive additional feedback.
  • Enables you to publish all of your work (that you feel is worth sharing).

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Pre-printing – Risks?

  • Won’t may paper get rejected at the ‘target journal’?
  • It shouldn’t:
    • APA.
    • Elsevier.
    • Sage.
    • Wiley.
    • Routledge.
    • Springer.
    • Schizophrenia Bulletin (OUP).

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Pre-printing – Risks?

  • Won’t I get scooped?
  • Probably not – the preprint is evidence that the idea was your idea first!
  • This risk is probably greater in trad peer review:

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Pre-printing – Risks?

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Pre-printing – Risks?

  • What if my work isn’t ‘ready’ to be shared widely yet?
  • This is an understandable worry.
  • But:
    • If your supervisor is happy with it…
    • If you share it with a trusted peer first…
    • It will probably be a good piece of work.

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Pre-printing – Risks?

  • Will I attract predatory publishers?
  • Yes…

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Pre-printing – Risks?

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Pre-printing – Risks?

  • Will I attract predatory publishers?
  • Yes…
  • Navigating publishing/avoiding predatory publishers is a skill to be learned.
  • Supervisor can help.
  • Librarian can help.
  • Peers/the internet can help:
    • https://beallslist.net/

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Pre-printing – Risks v Benefits?

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In short, I think the benefits out-weigh the risks.

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But if you are worried, preprinting can wait until you are more confident about the publishing process.

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Pre-printing – Practical Tips

  • Think about why you are preprinting (sharing quickly? Or wanting additional feedback?).
    • Influences when you submit to a journal.
  • Pick a preprint server.
    • PsyArXiv
    • bioRxiv
    • medRxiv
    • MetaArXiv

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Pre-printing – Practical Tips

  • Select a licence.

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Pre-printing – Practical Tips

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Pre-printing – Practical Tips

  • Select a licence.
  • Add a watermark/note making it clear that this is a preprint.
  • Tell the editor at your target journal that you have preprinted the manuscript.
    • In the Cover Letter.
  • Can update the preprint following a helpful review process.
  • When accepted at a journal, add info about this to the preprint.

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Pre-printing – Summary

  • A few different ways to do this.
  • Many benefits; some risks.
  • Benefits likely outweigh risks/costs.
  • Follow guidance in Moshontz et al. (2021).

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Questions?