A Practical Guide to Preprints: Accelerating Scholarly Communication

The Dutch consortium of university libraries and the National library of the Netherlands (UKB) together with the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO), has published a practical guide on preprints.

Preprints
Preprints are [academic] manuscripts that have not been peer-reviewed or published in a traditional publishing venue. In Open Science and academic publishing, the preprint increasingly appears on the radar as an important element in academic communication. By posting preprints, academics can rapidly share their findings and build upon each other’s work.

But, to what extent do they differ from articles published in an academic journal? How to post a preprint yourself and by, which preprint archive? How to interpret the research results published through preprints?

About the guide
The guide aims to support both researchers and members of the general public (journalists, patients, healthcare workers, etc.) from, but not limited to, the Netherlands answering these and other questions through sharply defined chapters and frequently asked questions.