Do funders and job search committees give credit for preprints?

We are tracking the policies of both funders (including NIH, HHMI, Wellcome, MRC, HFSP, CZI, CIHR, Simons, EMBO, Helmsley, Cancer Research UK, & BBSRC) and universities that have considered preprints in assessment processes (including UC Davis, NYU, UCSC, UT Austin, and the Rockefeller University).

For example, On March 24, 2017, the US NIH released NOT-OD-17-050, which clarifies that “The NIH encourages investigators to use interim research products, such as preprints,” which can be “cited anywhere other research products are cited.” More details can be found in a subsequent NIH blog post. 

In the UK, preprints constitute valid output for REF2021.

Some funders (CZI, MJFF, and Aligning Science Against Parkinson’s) now require preprints. In 2021, Wellcome will begin to require preprints in case of a “significant public health benefit.”