BioRxiv: A Preprint Archive for the Life Sciences

I just found out that some of my friends had not yet heard about BioRxiv, the preprint archive for the biological and life science which was launched by Cold Spring Harbor Press last November.

And we are live! The non-profit preprint server for biology from Cold Spring Harbor Lab http://t.co/euzSeKlPae

— bioRxiv (@biorxivpreprint) November 12, 2013

What is the idea behind it? They released a great video yesterday to explain it.

bioRxiv The Preprint Server for Biology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwAMtT3ZIpg

The buzz has reached such influential journals as SCIENCE and NATURE, so you know they are legitimate. This is how they describe themselves.

“bioRxiv (pronounced “bio-archive”) is a free online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences. It is operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a not-for-profit research and educational institution. By posting preprints on bioRxiv, authors are able to make their findings immediately available to the scientific community and receive feedback on draft manuscripts before they are submitted to journals.”

Jon Wilkins gives excellent reasons for participating in his blogpost on Lost in Transcription: open access, speed, normalization, feedback, and “the left side of history.”

Five Reasons Biologists Should Use Preprint Servers http://jonfwilkins.com/2013/11/five-reasons-biologists-should-use-preprint-servers/

I’d also argue that getting your work out in public view under your own name helps to define your claim to the work, and gives you preemptive identification with the concepts. Not to mention that visibility can lead to or support publication (and there is the absolutely delicious feeling that comes when an editor sees the preprint and asks you to submit your article to their journal).

Just had a paper I posted on the #biorxiv accepted by @PLOSCompBiol #openaccess win! written mostly on #writelatex http://t.co/DRi2Dgbl5D

— Jacob G Scott (@CancerConnector) November 27, 2013

Just to make it even better, bioRxiv readership and use are included in altmetrics.

Article metrics now augmented by altmetrics on bioRxiv e.g. http://t.co/dFmlgoxg7x pic.twitter.com/67gtUGhUJd via @cshperspectives cc @altmetric

— bioRxiv (@biorxivpreprint) March 18, 2014

This might just make an interesting expansion upon placing your work in Deep Blue, and could also help fulfill some grant requirements for placing work in spaces accessible to the public. Issues to ponder.