Publishing of preprints

In many cases, research articles can be published before they are peer-reviewed or accepted to any journal. A preprint is a version of scholarly paper that have not yet been peer-reviewed. Preprint publishing is currently one of the most rapidly growing forms of open-access publishing which the increase of preprint archives (preprint servers) has accelerated. 

The best-known of these archives is arXiv, which has served as an open-access archive particularly in the fields of mathematics and physics for over 25 years. Following its model, similar archives have been established in many different disciplines. Preprints are also published in Zenodo and FigShare. 

Publishers have usually taken a very positive stand to preprint publishing but it is recommended to always check publisher's policy before sharing preprints.

The researchers of the University of Jyväskylä can also publish preprints in the JYX. If you already know where your preprint will eventually be published as a formally peer-reviewed article, you can get it indexed early in the university's research information system: just send your preprint to converis-publications@jyu.fi. Please remind that according to the current policy of the Ministry of Education and Culture, manuscripts that have not been peer-reviewed are not considered as open-access publications.

Why do researchers publish preprints?

• It is a quick way to publicise one’s research. This is important to many researchers, especially in those fields where the publishing processes of scientific journals may take a long time.
• Open access publishing of preprints is free of charge. Publishing articles in open access journals often requires paying a publishing fee. (However, self-archiving the peer-reviewed article is always free).
• As preprints are published openly, they can increase the visibility of research before the peer-reviewed articles are published – reaching those who do not have access to articles published in subscription journals as well.
• The researcher receives authorship to the research, and the manuscript can be referred to even if the actual article is not yet published. Manuscripts submitted to preprint servers are often assigned digital object identifiers (DOIs).
• The researchers can contribute to scientific discussion and receive feedback on their articles more broadly within their research community already before actual peer reviews. By reacting to the feedback, researchers might be able to improve the quality of their manuscripts.