Preprint servers guide

Preprint Servers Guide

A comprehensive guide to preprint servers across all major academic disciplines, covering submission workflows, licensing, and programmatic access.

What Are Preprints?

Preprints are complete research manuscripts shared publicly before formal peer review. They enable rapid dissemination of findings, establish priority of discovery, and invite community feedback before journal submission.

Key characteristics:

• Not peer reviewed (but increasingly moderated for basic quality)
• Freely accessible to anyone
• Citable with a DOI
• Versioned (authors can post revisions)
• Compatible with most journal submissions (check journal policy first)

Major Preprint Servers by Discipline

Server	Disciplines	Operator	Moderation	DOI Prefix
arXiv	Physics, Math, CS, Econ, EE, Stats, Q-Bio	Cornell	Light screening	10.48550
bioRxiv	Biology (all subfields)	Cold Spring Harbor	Basic screening	10.1101
medRxiv	Clinical/health sciences	Yale/BMJ/CSHL	Enhanced screening	10.1101
ChemRxiv	Chemistry	ACS	Moderate screening	10.26434
EarthArXiv	Earth/planetary sciences	Community-led	Light screening	10.31223
PsyArXiv	Psychology	COS/OSF	Light screening	10.31234
SocArXiv	Social sciences	COS/OSF	Light screening	10.31235
SSRN	Social sciences, law, economics	Elsevier	Minimal	various
engrXiv	Engineering	COS/OSF	Light screening	10.31224
EdArXiv	Education	COS/OSF	Light screening	10.35542
Preprints.org	Multidisciplinary	MDPI	Basic screening	10.20944
Research Square	Multidisciplinary	Springer Nature	In Review service	10.21203
TechRxiv	Electrical eng., CS	IEEE	Moderate	10.36227

Submission Workflow

arXiv Submission

1. Create an account at arxiv.org and get endorsed (new users need endorsement in the relevant category).
2. Prepare your manuscript:
   • LaTeX source (preferred): upload .tex + figures + .bbl as a single archive
   • PDF: accepted but LaTeX is strongly preferred
3. Select categories: Choose a primary category (e.g., cs.CL) and optional cross-lists.
4. Submit metadata: Title, abstract, authors, comments, journal-ref (if applicable).
5. Wait for processing: Papers appear in the next daily posting (submissions before 14:00 ET on weekdays).
6. Receive arXiv ID: Format YYMM.NNNNN (e.g., 2401.12345).

# Download arXiv paper PDF programmatically
curl -o paper.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.12345

# Get metadata via arXiv API
curl "http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?id_list=2401.12345"

bioRxiv/medRxiv Submission

1. Create an account at biorxiv.org or medrxiv.org.
2. Upload manuscript as a single Word or PDF file.
3. Add metadata: Title, authors with ORCIDs, abstract, subject area.
4. Select license: CC-BY, CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-ND, CC-BY-NC-ND, or CC0.
5. Screening: bioRxiv screens for plagiarism, dual submission, and non-scientific content. medRxiv applies additional clinical content screening.
6. Posting: Typically within 24-48 hours after screening.

# bioRxiv API: search recent preprints
import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.biorxiv.org/details/biorxiv/2024-01-01/2024-01-31",
    params={"cursor": 0, "format": "json"}
)
papers = response.json()["collection"]
for p in papers[:5]:
    print(f"[{p['date']}] {p['title']} (doi: {p['doi']})")

Licensing Options

License	Allows Reuse	Allows Commercial	Allows Derivatives	Requires Attribution
CC-BY	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CC-BY-NC	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
CC-BY-ND	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
CC-BY-NC-ND	Yes	No	No	Yes
CC0	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Recommendation: Use CC-BY for maximum openness and compatibility with funder mandates (NIH, Wellcome Trust, ERC). Use CC-BY-NC if you want to restrict commercial reuse.

Journal Policies on Preprints

Most major publishers now accept manuscripts previously posted as preprints:

• Accepts preprints: Nature, Science, PNAS, Cell, Lancet, BMJ, PLOS, eLife, all IEEE journals, most ACM venues
• Does not accept preprints: Some society journals in certain fields (check SHERPA/RoMEO at sherpa.ac.uk/romeo for specific policies)

Important considerations:

• Some journals require you to update the preprint with a link to the published version.
• Dual posting on multiple preprint servers may violate policies.
• Embargo periods may apply for some clinical journals (especially medRxiv).

Programmatic Access Comparison

Server	API Available	Bulk Download	OAI-PMH	Rate Limit
arXiv	Yes (Atom)	Yes (S3 bulk)	Yes	1 req/3 sec
bioRxiv	Yes (REST)	No	No	Polite use
SSRN	No public API	No	No	N/A
OSF Preprints	Yes (SHARE)	Yes	Yes	Polite use

Best Practices

1. Post before or at submission: Maximize the time for community feedback.
2. Use ORCIDs: Link your preprint to your ORCID profile for discoverability.
3. Update with journal DOI: After acceptance, add a comment or new version linking to the published article.
4. Choose the right server: Use the discipline-specific server for maximum visibility within your community.
5. Check funder requirements: Some funders (NIH, Plan S) mandate preprint posting for funded research.