{"doi":"10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041849","title":"Systematic examination of preprint platforms for use in the medical and biomedical sciences setting","abstract":"<h4>Objectives</h4>The objective of this review is to identify all preprint platforms with biomedical and medical scope and to compare and contrast the key characteristics and policies of these platforms.<h4>Study design and setting</h4>Preprint platforms that were launched up to 25 June 2019 and have a biomedical and medical scope according to MEDLINE's journal selection criteria were identified using existing lists, web-based searches and the expertise of both academic and non-academic publication scientists. A data extraction form was developed, pilot tested and used to collect data from each preprint platform's webpage(s).<h4>Results</h4>A total of 44 preprint platforms were identified as having biomedical and medical scope, 17 (39%) were hosted by the Open Science Framework preprint infrastructure, 6 (14%) were provided by F1000 Research (the Open Research Central infrastructure) and 21 (48%) were other independent preprint platforms. Preprint platforms were either owned by non-profit academic groups, scientific societies or funding organisations (n=28; 64%), owned/partly owned by for-profit publishers or companies (n=14; 32%) or owned by individuals/small communities (n=2; 5%). Twenty-four (55%) preprint platforms accepted content from all scientific fields although some of these had restrictions relating to funding source, geographical region or an affiliated journal's remit. Thirty-three (75%) preprint platforms provided details about article screening (basic checks) and 14 (32%) of these actively involved researchers with context expertise in the screening process. Almost all preprint platforms allow submission to any peer-reviewed journal following publication, have a preservation plan for read access and most have a policy regarding reasons for retraction and the sustainability of the service.<h4>Conclusion</h4>A large number of preprint platforms exist for use in biomedical and medical sciences, all of which offer researchers an opportunity to rapidly disseminate their research findings onto an open-access public server, subject to scope and eligibility.","journal":"BMJ Open","year":2020,"id":72,"datarank":0.6329261557764161,"base_score":4.219507705176107,"endowment":4.219507705176107,"self_citation_contribution":0.6329261557764161,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.6329261557764161,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":67,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.3225,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-12-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":495,"name":"Naomi C Penfold","orcid":"0000-0003-0568-1194","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":496,"name":"Fiona Murphy","orcid":"0000-0003-1693-1240","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":497,"name":"Isabelle Boutron","orcid":"0000-0002-5263-6241","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":499,"name":"Jessica K. Polka","orcid":"0000-0001-6610-9293","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":500,"name":"David Moher","orcid":"0000-0003-2434-4206","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":148,"name":"John P. A. Ioannidis","orcid":"0000-0003-3118-6859","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":494,"name":"Jamie J Kirkham","orcid":"0000-0003-2579-9325","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":36,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-03-01T18:20:47.508186Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}