Driving recognition of preprints in research assessment: recap from the ASAPbio July Community Call

Our fourth Community Call of 2023 featured a discussion about the use of preprints in research assessment. The adoption of any product or innovation requires the presence of appropriate incentives and preprints are no different. Academia is driven by research and researcher assessment; from funding bodies awarding grants, hiring committees assessing potential new faculty members…

AI generated image showing graduation caps tossed in the air with papers

Preprints for degree graduation requirements

Different institutions around the world have varying requirements for PhD students to graduate. Some require a thesis whilst others require published papers (or several!). Publishing a paper can take months or even years, delaying the graduation of students in programmes with this requirement. Delays in graduating can have serious consequences for students. Preprints speed up…

Sharing negative results via a preprint: A conversation with Livia Songster

This is the third in our series of posts highlighting the winners of the ASAPbio competition ‘Make your negative result a preprint winner,’ which celebrates the value of using preprints to share negative and inconclusive scientific results. In this post, we hear from Livia Songster (University of California San Diego), the first author of the preprint ‘Woronin…

Sharing negative results via a preprint: a conversation with Lilya Andrianova

This is the second in our series of posts highlighting the winners of the ASAPbio competition ‘Make your negative result a preprint winner,’ which celebrate the value of using preprints to share negative and inconclusive scientific results. In this post, we hear from Lilya Andrianova (University of Exeter Medical School & University of Glasgow), the first author…

midjourney-generated illustration of an open book with flasks and biologically-themed patterns springing from it

ASAPbio’s response to the NIH Plan to Enhance Public Access

Last month, the US NIH released a Request for Information (RFI) for feedback on its planned implementation of last year’s White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directive to make all US federally-funded research immediately publicly accessible.  In addition to ensuring that “publications resulting from NIH-supported research are made available in PMC without…

Announcing the winners of the ‘Make your negative result a preprint winner’ competition

We are pleased to announce the winners of the ASAPbio competition ‘Make your negative result a preprint winner’, which aimed to highlight the value of sharing negative and inconclusive scientific results via preprints. We know that science advances through a persistent exploration of research questions and approaches, and that this brings with it the fact…

ASAPbio preprint policy toolkit for funders

Preprints help to improve the overall quality, integrity and reproducibility of research outputs, as highlighted in UNESCO’s recommendations on open science. Preprint adoption is increasing across scientific disciplines and geographies thanks to the involvement of multiple players, including researchers, publishers, institutions, societies, and funders. Funders can significantly influence, and benefit from, the preprint landscape by…

Fostering local preprint communities: announcing the ASAPbio Local Hubs

ASAPbio hosts a global community and we regularly organize online events and activities for audiences across the world. At the same time, we recognize that in-person interactions can be invaluable for developing new relationships and the deeper engagement needed for change in science communication. To support and amplify the work that community members do in…

Do you have a preprint in progress and want constructive feedback? Submit it for discussion at the ASAPbio-PREreview live-streamed preprint journal clubs

Preprints provide a great avenue for researchers to get feedback on their work from the community. This type of community feedback is particularly valuable when gathered on early preprints, that is, on manuscripts that are still work-in-progress, prior to their submission for journal publication. The feedback from the community can allow authors to get a…

‘Open science and preprints’ lecture at the University of Belgrade – Raising awareness about preprints in the Serbian community

Post by ASAPbio Fellow Ana Đorđević On 2 December 2022, the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Belgrade (Serbia), hosted a lecture concerning open science and preprints. The event was supported by ASAPbio and aimed to raise awareness around preprints and their place within open science among the local Serbian researchers, and to encourage this…

How journals are innovating in peer review through preprints

Image reproduced from Biogeosciences Post by ASAPbio Fellow Aditi Sengupta Preprints are increasingly becoming a tool to support the peer-review process and aid rapid dissemination of research results. The increased transparency in the review process that preprints can support has been welcomed by many journals with many pivoting to an environment of supporting preprints. A…

Recommendations for managing preprints in generalist and institutional repositories

As adoption of preprints has grown over recent years, researchers have made use of a variety of platforms to share the early drafts of their manuscripts. In addition to the existing preprint servers, there are also many institutional or generalist repositories where authors can deposit their manuscripts – Zenodo, for example, lists over 6,000 records…