Preprint solicitation as a natural experiment in scholarly publishing
- 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montreal,1375 Avenue Therese-Lavoie-Roux, H3C 3J7 Montrdal, Quebec, Canada
Abstract
Preprinting is a growing and increasingly recognized mechanism for scientific communication and productivity and a way to facilitate global access to science. The interplay of preprinting practices with formal peer-reviewed publication is an open question that is now tractable to targeted analysis. Here, we take advantage of nearly a decade of preprint solicitation at Proceedings B to address this question, which offers a quasi-experimental setting for comparing outcomes for solicited preprints and traditionally submitted manuscripts. We used submission records from 15,368 manuscripts from 2018-2024 to assess whether preprint solicitation affects acceptance rates, journal scope, author geographic diversity, and post-publication uptake. Solicited manuscripts were accepted at nearly twice the rate of traditional submissions and received more downloads and citations after publication. Submission topics were broadly similar between the two routes, though solicited manuscripts showed marginally greater subject diversity. Geographic disparities favoring the Global North persisted, but acceptance rates for solicited manuscripts converged across regions, narrowing the gap seen in traditional submissions. These findings extend earlier work on this initiative and indicate that editor-driven solicitation can identify high-quality preprints, broaden geographic representation, and increase research visibility, offering a replicable model for journals seeking to diversify authorship while maintaining editorial standards.
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BibTeX
@misc{gazda2026preprint,
title = {{Preprint solicitation as a natural experiment in scholarly publishing}},
author = {M. A. Gazda and H. Cai and B. Dharmaraaj and C. V. Filippi and S. Kolay and V. Nagarajan-Radha and R. Bagley and M. Neiman and S. Singh-Shepherd},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.26.761927},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.26.761927v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Preprint solicitation as a natural experiment in scholarly publishing
AU - M. A. Gazda
AU - H. Cai
AU - B. Dharmaraaj
AU - C. V. Filippi
AU - S. Kolay
AU - V. Nagarajan-Radha
AU - R. Bagley
AU - M. Neiman
AU - S. Singh-Shepherd
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.26.761927
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.26.761927v1
AB - Preprinting is a growing and increasingly recognized mechanism for scientific communication and productivity and a way to facilitate global access to science. The interplay of preprinting practices with formal peer-reviewed publication is an open question that is now tractable to targeted analysis. Here, we take advantage of nearly a decade of preprint solicitation at Proceedings B to address this question, which offers a quasi-experimental setting for comparing outcomes for solicited preprints and traditionally submitted manuscripts. We used submission records from 15,368 manuscripts from 2018-2024 to assess whether preprint solicitation affects acceptance rates, journal scope, author geographic diversity, and post-publication uptake. Solicited manuscripts were accepted at nearly twice the rate of traditional submissions and received more downloads and citations after publication. Submission topics were broadly similar between the two routes, though solicited manuscripts showed marginally greater subject diversity. Geographic disparities favoring the Global North persisted, but acceptance rates for solicited manuscripts converged across regions, narrowing the gap seen in traditional submissions. These findings extend earlier work on this initiative and indicate that editor-driven solicitation can identify high-quality preprints, broaden geographic representation, and increase research visibility, offering a replicable model for journals seeking to diversify authorship while maintaining editorial standards.
ER -