Preprints: Recommendations for Authors

1. Follow recommended guidelines for selecting a preprint repository that abides by FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable).

2. Select a Creative Commons license or confirm that the preprint is in the public domain.

3. Note that the preprint has not been peer-reviewed.

4. Confirm that a journal will allow for submission of a preprint for peer review, if submitting the work to a peer-reviewed journal.

5. Inform a journal if the work has been previously posted on a preprint server.

6. Ensure that preprints are amended to point readers to subsequent versions, including the final published article. 

NIH recommends awardees to select a select a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license or dedicate their work to the public domain. 

Source: Reporting Preprints and Other Interim Research Products.

See: Creative Commons Licenses for more information. 

Responsibility of Authors Who Publish Preprints

Per International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):

Authors who wish to make preprints of non–peer-reviewed work publicly available should choose preprint archives that have the following characteristics:

• Clearly identify preprints as work that is not peer reviewed
• Require authors to document disclosures of interest
• Require authors to indicate funding source(s)
• Have a clear process for preprint archive users to notify archive administrators about concerns related to posted preprints—a public commenting feature is desirable for this purpose;
• Maintain metadata for preprints that are withdrawn from posting and post withdrawal notices indicating the timing and reason for withdrawal of a preprint; and
• Have a mechanism for authors to indicate when the preprint article has been subsequently published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Source: Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, December 2024.