The preprint debate: What are the issues?
Journal Title: Medical Journal Armed Forces - Year 2018, Vol 74, Issue 2
Abstract
The debate surrounding preprints is increasing. Preprint proponents claim that preprints are a way to shore up trust in academic publishing, that they provide an additional 'quality' screen prior to traditional peer review, that they can assist with the replication crisis plaguing science in part by making negative or contradictory results public, and that they speed up the publishing process because fundamental results can be presented early, serving as timely reports for the purposes of tenure or grant funding. Preprint skeptics and critics claim that preprints may represent a risk and a danger to quality-based academic publishing because they are documents that have not been carefully and thoroughly vetted prior to their release into the public domain. Thus, academics who cite invalid, poorly vetted, or false facts could cause harm, not unlike the unscholarly 'predatory' open access movement. Feedback on work from lesser-known groups, or on less glamorous topics, may be null or worse than from traditional peer review, annulling an initial key objective of preprints. Although there is no widespread empirical evidence or data yet regarding some of these issues, academics should be aware of the ideological, financial, and political tug-of-war taking place before deciding if they wish to publish their important findings as a preprint prior or simultaneous to submitting to a regular journal for peer review.
Authors and Affiliations
Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP647049
- DOI 10.1016/j.mjafi.2017.08.002
- Views 62
- Downloads 0
Man and Microbe: Fraternizing with the frenemy
Man's fate has been intricately intertwined with that of microbes since the beginning of his existence. Microbes are possibly our best friends. We share an exceptional symbiotic relationship with them, with each one of u...
Giant omental lipoma in an elderly female patient
A lipoma is a benign non-invasive encapsulated mesenchymal tumour that resembles normal fat. It is ubiquitous and the commonest tumour to affect soft tissues. Although a lipoma may arise in any tissue containing fat, ome...
Episiotomy scar endometriosis
Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterine endometrial cavity. It is a benign, chronic, and estrogen-dependent disorder. It generally occurs in pelvic sites such as ovar...
Comparative evaluation of effects of intrapleural block with adjuvants on analgesia and pulmonary function after intercostal drainage: A pilot study
Background: Inter-costal chest drain (ICD) used for varied thoracic pathologies causes continuous pain and irritation of the pleura, which limits respiratory efforts and impairs ventilatory function. Intrapleural block d...
Hydrogen peroxide test for intraoperative bile leak detection
Background: Bile leakage (BL) is a common complication following liver surgery, ranging from 3 to 27% in different series. To reduce the incidence of post-operative BL various BL tests have been applied since ages, but n...