Online publishing sites generally are called “preprint servers” because many researchers use them as a first step toward traditional peer review, giving the authors a way to make their work public — and available for possible news coverage — before more thorough analysis begins. Advocates of preprint servers tout their ability to create early visibility for important discoveries and also spark useful debate. They note that traditional peer-reviewed journals have their own history of occasionally publishing hoaxes and bad science.
Online publishing sites generally are called “preprint servers” because
many researchers use them as a first step toward traditional peer review,
giving the authors a way to make their work public — and available for
possible news coverage — before more thorough analysis begins. Advocates of preprint servers tout their ability to create early visibility for
important discoveries and also spark useful debate. They note that
traditional peer-reviewed journals have their own history of occasionally
publishing hoaxes and bad science.