TL;DR

• Preprints are public versions of papers not yet peer-reviewed.

• Uploading early gives your research visibility before acceptance.

• Most major journals allow preprints, but always check the policy.

• Preprints are not peer-reviewed and should never be labelled as such.

• Timing and server choice matter more than most researchers expect.

You have finished your research paper. You have revised it, formatted it, and chosen a journal. Now someone mentions preprints, and suddenly you are not sure whether to upload, wait, or skip the whole thing. That uncertainty is common, and it is worth resolving before you submit.

The question of what is a preprint and should you upload one before submitting is not just procedural. The decision affects how your work is discovered, how it is cited, and whether your target journal will even accept the manuscript afterward. Getting it wrong can cost you time or, in rare cases, eligibility at the journal you want most.

This post walks through what preprints are, how they work in practice, and how to decide whether uploading one makes sense for your specific situation.

What Is a Preprint?

A preprint is a version of a research paper that an author makes publicly available before it has completed formal peer review. It is shared on a dedicated platform, carries no endorsement from a journal, and is clearly labelled as not yet peer-reviewed. Preprints can be updated, but the original version remains on the server permanently.

Preprint servers have existed since 1991, when arXiv launched for physics and mathematics. Today, servers like bioRxiv cover biology, medRxiv covers health sciences, and SSRN covers social sciences and economics. Each server has its own scope, moderation standards, and community norms. When you upload to one of these platforms, your paper receives a digital object identifier (DOI), a permanent web address, and a timestamp that establishes when you made the work public.

That timestamp matters. In fast-moving fields, being first to share a finding publicly can establish priority, even before a journal accepts the paper. This is one of the main reasons researchers upload preprints, but it is not the only one.

Preprints also accelerate the flow of knowledge. Peer review at many journals takes months. During that time, other researchers who could benefit from your findings have no access to them. A preprint removes that delay. Readers can engage with the work, cite it, and build on it while the formal review process continues.

Should You Upload a Preprint Before Submitting to a Journal?

Whether to upload a preprint before journal submission depends on three factors: your target journal's policy, your field's norms, and your own goals for the paper. Most journals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics allow preprints. Many journals in the humanities and some in medicine have more restrictive policies or require specific conditions.

The first thing to do is check the journal's author guidelines directly. Many publishers, including Springer Nature and Elsevier, maintain publicly available preprint policies. The SHERPA RoMEO database, maintained by Jisc, is a reliable tool for checking what a specific journal permits before and after publication. If the policy is unclear, email the editorial office. A brief, direct question will get you a clear answer and costs nothing.

If your journal allows preprints, the case for uploading is generally strong. Your work becomes citable immediately. Other researchers can find it through Google Scholar, which indexes most major preprint servers. You may receive informal feedback that improves the manuscript before reviewers see it. And if the journal takes six months to respond, your work has not been invisible during that time.

If you are working toward your first publication and want structured guidance on matching your paper to the right journal, Publication Compass is a platform built to help student researchers do exactly that, from refining drafts to identifying appropriate venues.

There are situations where uploading a preprint is genuinely risky. Some journals in clinical medicine follow the Ingelfinger rule, a policy that discourages prior public disclosure of findings. The New England Journal of Medicine has historically applied this standard, though its current policy allows preprints in certain circumstances. If you are targeting a journal with a strict prior publication policy, confirm the details before you post anything publicly.

How to Choose the Right Preprint Server

Choosing the right preprint server means matching your discipline to the server where your intended audience actually looks. Uploading a biology paper to SSRN, or a social science paper to bioRxiv, will reduce your visibility and may signal unfamiliarity with your field's norms.

Here is a basic guide to the most established servers by discipline:

1. arXiv: Physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, and economics. One of the oldest and most respected servers. Submissions go through a basic moderation check before posting.

2. bioRxiv: Life sciences broadly, including ecology, genetics, neuroscience, and cell biology. Run by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. No peer review, but content screening is in place.

3. medRxiv: Clinical and public health research. Also run by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in partnership with Yale and BMJ. Has additional screening given the potential public health implications of medical findings.

4. SSRN: Social sciences, economics, law, and humanities. Owned by Elsevier. Widely used in economics and finance in particular.

5. OSF Preprints: Multidisciplinary. Run by the Center for Open Science. Hosts preprints across many fields and supports open science practices.

When you upload, be precise about the version you are sharing. Most servers distinguish between the submitted version, the accepted manuscript, and the version of record. Label your preprint accurately. Do not upload a version that differs significantly from what you submit to the journal without noting the differences.

What Happens to Your Preprint After Journal Acceptance?

After a journal accepts your paper, you can usually update your preprint to reflect the accepted version, though the version of record (the final formatted journal article) may be subject to embargo or copyright restrictions. The original preprint remains on the server permanently and continues to be accessible.

Most journals ask authors to add a link to the published version once it appears. This connects the preprint record to the formal publication and helps readers find the peer-reviewed version. Some journals, including those published by PLOS, actively encourage this practice as part of their open access commitment.

Citations to preprints and citations to the published paper are counted separately in most databases. This means your work may accumulate citations in two places. That is generally a positive outcome, but it also means the preprint citation count does not automatically transfer to the journal article. If citation metrics matter for your goals, keep this in mind.

For a closer look at how the journal submission process works from start to finish, the Publication Compass blog covers each stage of the process in practical terms.

Common Mistakes Students Make With Preprints

The most common mistake is uploading a preprint without checking the target journal's policy first. This can disqualify a manuscript at journals that consider preprint posting a form of prior publication. Always check before you post.

The second most common mistake is uploading a draft that is not ready. Preprints are permanent. An early, rough version will remain associated with your name even after you publish a much-improved paper. Upload a version you are genuinely confident in, not a first draft.

A third mistake is failing to disclose the preprint when submitting to a journal. Most journals ask whether the work has been previously posted. Answer honestly. Concealing a preprint is a form of research misconduct under the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), a widely recognised body that sets standards for academic publishing integrity.

If you want to understand how to prepare a manuscript that is genuinely ready for both preprint upload and journal submission, working through the Publication Compass waitlist gives you access to structured feedback tools designed for student researchers navigating exactly this process.

What Is a Preprint and Should You Upload One Before Submitting: A Decision Framework

Deciding whether to upload a preprint before submitting comes down to a short sequence of checks. Work through these in order before making a decision.

1. Check your target journal's preprint policy in its author guidelines or on SHERPA RoMEO.

2. Confirm your field's norms by looking at whether papers in your target journal cite preprints from recognised servers.

3. Assess whether your manuscript is in a state you would be comfortable with readers seeing permanently.

4. Choose the server that matches your discipline and has moderation standards appropriate to your field.

5. Plan to disclose the preprint DOI when you submit to the journal, and update the preprint record once your paper is accepted.

This sequence applies whether you are submitting to a broad journal like PLOS ONE, a field-specific journal like the Journal of Adolescent Health, or a highly selective outlet. The steps do not change. The answers to each step will.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does uploading a preprint count as publishing?

No. A preprint is not a peer-reviewed publication. It is a public version of your manuscript shared before formal review. Most journals and academic institutions do not count preprints as publications on a CV or in a bibliography, though they are citable and can demonstrate research activity.

Can a journal reject my paper because I uploaded a preprint?

Some journals can, particularly those with strict prior publication policies. However, most major journals in science and social science now explicitly allow preprints. Always verify the specific journal's policy before uploading. Journals that prohibit preprints are increasingly rare but do still exist, especially in clinical medicine.

What is a preprint and should you upload one before submitting if you are a high school student?

High school researchers can upload preprints to open servers like OSF Preprints or bioRxiv if their work meets the server's scope and basic standards. The same rules apply: check your target journal's policy first, upload a polished version, and disclose the preprint when you submit. Student status does not change the process.

How long does a preprint stay online?

Preprints are permanent. Once uploaded to a server like arXiv or bioRxiv, the original version remains accessible indefinitely, even if you later update it or the paper is published in a journal. This is why uploading a version you are confident in matters before you post.

Can I update my preprint after I get peer review feedback?

Yes. Most preprint servers allow authors to upload revised versions. Each version is stored separately, and the original remains accessible. Updating your preprint after incorporating reviewer feedback is good practice. It keeps the public record accurate and shows readers the evolution of the work.

The Decision Is Yours, but Make It Informed

Preprints are a legitimate and increasingly standard part of academic research. For most fields and most journals, uploading one before submission is a reasonable choice that increases visibility without creating risk. The key is doing the groundwork first: checking policies, choosing the right server, and uploading a version you stand behind.

The academic publishing process has a lot of moving parts, and preprints are just one of them. If you want to understand the full picture, from manuscript preparation to journal selection to submission, the Publication Compass homepage is a good place to start.