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. 2013;11(5):e1001563.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001563. Epub 2013 May 14.

The case for open preprints in biology

Philippe Desjardins-Proulx  1 , Ethan P White, Joel J Adamson, Karthik Ram, Timothée Poisot, Dominique Gravel
Affiliations

The case for open preprints in biology

Philippe Desjardins-Proulx et al. PLoS Biol. 2013.

Abstract

Biologists should submit their preprints to open servers, a practice common in mathematics and physics, to open and accelerate the scientific process.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: Ethan White is an academic editor for PeerJ and Timothée Poisot is a member of the figshare advisors program.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. It can take several months before a submitted paper is officially published and citable.
Meanwhile, few people are aware of the research that has been done since, typically, only close colleagues are given access to the preprints. With public preprint servers, the science is immediately available and can be openly discussed, analyzed, and integrated into current research.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Submissions to the quantitative biology section lag behind physics, mathematics, and computer science.
Data from .
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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