search.bioPreprint helps researchers refine their preprints searches via Topic Clusters to discover cutting edge, yet-to-be published or peer-reviewed biomedical research articles retrieved from Europe PMC.
What is a preprint database?
- Open access online distribution centers/archives that enable authors “to make their findings immediately available to the scientific community and receive feedback on draft manuscripts before they are submitted to journals” (About bioRxiv). Preprints are not copyedited or peer-reviewed prior to posting online, although they undergo a basic screening process to check against plagiarism, offensiveness, and non-scientific content. Authors may make revisions at any point prior to publication, but all versions remain available online.
- Preprints are preliminary reports of work that have not been certified by peer review. They should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Examples?
- bioRxiv, the preprint server for biology, covers new, confirmatory, and contradictory results in research ranging from animal behavior and cognition to clinical trials, neuroscience to zoology.
- medRxiv is a free online archive and distribution server for complete but unpublished manuscripts in the medical, clinical, and related health sciences.
Why preprints?
- There is a growing movement of preprint supporters who want the current journal publication and peer review system to change. They propose that preprints play a role in catalyzing scientific discovery, facilitating career advancement, and improving the culture of communication within the biology community (ASAPbio).
Why create a preprints search tool?
- Now in its third iteration, search.bioPreprint provides a simple way to identify biomedical research published in a preprint format. Preprints are not typically indexed, and were formerly only discoverable by directly searching specific preprint server Web sites. search.bioPreprint capitalizes on the Europe PMC platform by adding the functionality of search refinement via Topic Clusters.
Reference: Iwema, C. L., LaDue, J., Zack, A. & Chattopadhyay, A. search.bioPreprint: a discovery tool for cutting edge, preprint biomedical research articles. [version 2; referees: 2 approved]. F1000Res 5, 1396 (2016). Link: https://f1000research.com/articles/5-1396/v2