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Researchers most often post preprints to share findings sooner and make their work more visible. They may also want free access, feedback, a public record of priority, or a way to show ongoing work. Those benefits come with trade-offs: an unreviewed manuscript can be misunderstood, attract premature media attention, or give competitors an early look.
Why do scientists post work before peer review?
A preprint is a manuscript made publicly available before it has completed journal peer review. Posting lets researchers share a version of their work while formal review and publication may still be underway. It does not mean the manuscript has been peer reviewed or validated.
The clearest evidence on authors’ stated reasons comes from a 2022 mixed-methods survey of 1,444 authors associated with bioRxiv. Its authors concluded that the strongest motivations were increasing awareness of research and sharing findings more quickly. The figures describe this survey population, not all scientists.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems| Reported reason | Survey finding | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Faster sharing | 91.5% of corresponding-author responses and 82.7% of co-author responses agreed or strongly agreed this motivated posting. | Authors can make a manuscript public without waiting for a journal’s review and publication process to finish. |
| Greater awareness | 86.9% of corresponding-author responses and 79.5% of co-author responses agreed or strongly agreed this motivated posting. | A public manuscript can be found and read by colleagues and others before journal publication. |
These results are reported in Fraser, Mayr and Peters’ 2022 bioRxiv-author survey.
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What else do authors hope to gain?
Free access to the work
A publicly available manuscript can be read without waiting for journal publication or relying on a reader’s access arrangements. In a separate international survey, approximately half of respondents rated free accessibility as a very beneficial effect of preprints. This is a perception reported by respondents, not a measured causal outcome.
Feedback and collaboration
Some researchers post to invite comments or bring their work to the attention of potential collaborators. In the bioRxiv survey, feedback was a motivation for a majority of respondents, though it ranked below speed and awareness. Posting does not guarantee that anyone will provide useful feedback.
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A public record of priority
A dated public manuscript can document that a researcher shared an idea or result by a particular time. That record may matter in a competitive field, but authors do not all see it the same way: some regard early posting as protective, while others worry that it exposes their work before they are ready. In the bioRxiv survey, early-career researchers were less motivated by priority claims than late-career researchers.
Open-science and career visibility
Some authors view preprints as a way to make research more openly accessible. Free-text survey responses also mention using preprints to demonstrate work during job or grant applications. These reported motives do not establish that employers or funders generally treat preprints as equivalent to peer-reviewed publications.
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Why do some researchers hesitate?
Publishing an unreviewed manuscript can create a risk of misinterpretation: readers may mistake a preliminary result for an established finding. This concern is particularly consequential in life and health sciences, where premature media coverage or public interpretation of uncertain results can have real effects. A 2024 international survey identified reliability, credibility and premature media attention among prominent concerns.
Practical barriers also matter. Researchers may not know about preprints, may not yet have a complete manuscript, or may be unsure whether their intended journal accepts them. Preparing a submission takes time, and some authors worry that competitors could use information in a public draft. The bioRxiv author survey found lack of awareness and reluctance to make unreviewed work public among leading reasons for not posting.
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Journal rules are not uniform across every journal and article type. Authors should check the current policy for the specific journal they plan to submit to rather than assume preprinting is always permitted or always prohibited.
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Do preprints increase citations?
Survey evidence does not establish that posting causes a citation increase. In the bioRxiv survey, 38.7% of corresponding-author responses agreed or strongly agreed that preprinting positively affected citations; the largest response group was neutral. Authors’ belief that a preprint improves visibility is not the same as evidence of a causal citation benefit.
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A separate international survey found that nearly 40% of respondents rated faster research communication as very beneficial. Like the finding on free accessibility, this measures perceived benefit, not a demonstrated effect on citations or research quality.
How do motives differ across fields and career stages?
Preprint norms are not the same everywhere. The international survey found posting more established in physics and astronomy, followed by mathematics and computer science, than in many other fields. Familiarity and adoption also varied by region. In health-related fields, concerns about credibility and premature media coverage add particular weight to the decision.
Career stage can shape what authors value: the bioRxiv survey found early-career researchers relatively more motivated by visibility and feedback, and late-career researchers relatively more motivated by priority claims. These are group-level patterns in survey responses, not rules for any individual researcher.
Quick Recap
What the evidence can—and cannot—tell us
- It supports speed and awareness as leading stated reasons among surveyed bioRxiv authors.
- It documents additional reported motives, including free access, feedback, priority, open science and career visibility.
- It records concerns and perceived benefits; it does not show that posting guarantees feedback, priority, citations or career advantage.
- It does not support the claim that scientists generally post preprints to bypass peer review or inflate citations.
- It cannot be generalized to every discipline, region or researcher: the bioRxiv study surveyed authors associated with one repository, while the international survey found variation by field and geography.
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