Posters · Glossary

What is a preprint?

A preprint is a complete version of a research paper that its authors post publicly on a preprint server before it has been peer reviewed or published in a journal. It makes the findings available to anyone immediately, usually with a DOI, but readers should treat its conclusions as preliminary until the work has passed peer review.

Preprints moved from a physics habit to a mainstream route in medicine and biology within a few years, and they are now common on conference posters. They are useful for sharing work fast and risky when a preliminary result is read as settled.

Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder

5 min read · Published 13 September 2026

Preprint, published version and postprint compared
	Preprint	Published version	Postprint (accepted manuscript)
Peer reviewed	No	Yes	Yes
Who produces it	The authors, posted to a preprint server	The journal, after review, editing and typesetting	The authors, final text after review, without journal formatting
When it appears	Before or during journal submission	After acceptance and production	After acceptance
Identifier	Usually its own DOI	The article's DOI	Often a repository record, sometimes a DOI
Can be updated	New versions can be posted; earlier versions remain	Only through formal corrections	Rarely
Typical use on a poster	Link to results not yet in a journal	The standard citation	Open access link when the journal version is paywalled

How preprint servers work

Authors upload a manuscript to a server run for their field, such as arXiv for physics, mathematics and computer science, or medRxiv and bioRxiv for health and life sciences. medRxiv states that its articles are not peer reviewed, edited or typeset before being posted, but that every submission goes through basic screening for offensive or non scientific content, health risks and plagiarism, which does not endorse its methods. Once posted, a preprint receives a DOI, becomes discoverable and citable, and cannot simply be removed. Authors can post revised versions, and the earlier versions stay visible.

Why researchers post them

Speed is the main reason: journal review and production can take months, while a preprint is public within days. Preprints also establish priority, invite feedback from a wider community than two or three reviewers, and let early career researchers show work in applications before it is published. ASAPbio, a non profit that promotes preprints in the life sciences, maintains resources on preprint practice for authors, readers and funders. During public health emergencies, preprints have allowed findings to circulate quickly, which also showed the danger of preliminary results being treated as established. Some funders and hiring panels now accept preprints as evidence of recent output, which has made posting them a routine part of many research careers.

Journals and preprints

Most journals now accept submissions that have been posted as preprints, though policies differ, so check the target journal before posting. The ICMJE's guidance on overlapping publications says a preprint does not prevent a journal from considering the complete report, and asks authors to disclose the posting when they submit and to update the preprint to point to the final published version. medRxiv notes that it will not post work that has already been accepted or published elsewhere. Preprint servers usually link the preprint to the journal article once it appears.

Reading and citing a preprint responsibly

medRxiv carries a caution on its pages that preprints are preliminary reports that have not been certified by peer review, should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health related behaviour, and should not be reported in news media as established information. The same caution applies when citing one. Label it as a preprint in the reference, give its DOI and version, and check whether a peer reviewed version has since been published, in which case cite that instead. On a poster that presents your own preprint, say plainly that the work has not yet been peer reviewed. When a preprint and a published version differ, the published version should be treated as the authoritative record, and any change in the headline result deserves a mention.

Common mistakes

Citing a preprint as if it were a journal article, without labelling it, is the most frequent. Others are continuing to cite the preprint after the peer reviewed version appears, quoting numbers from version one when later versions corrected them, and posting to a server without checking the journal's policy. Some authors post a preprint and then present different, unreconciled results on a poster, leaving readers unsure which to trust. And linking a poster QR code to a preprint that is later withdrawn can leave visitors at a withdrawal notice with no explanation. A last one is posting a preprint that includes identifiable participant details or unpublished data from collaborators who have not agreed to its release.

Where it shows up in the poster builder

A preprint usually reaches a board in two ways: as the link behind the QR code, on 37 of the forty layouts, and as an entry in the numbered reference list, on 34 layouts. The QR slot encodes a link or text you type, so it can point to the preprint's DOI link, which survives new versions and later links to the journal article. When a brief contains no citations, the generator writes plausible references to fill the required list, so replace them with real sources, labelled as preprints where they are.

Questions people ask

Is a preprint the same as a working paper?

They are similar. Working paper is the older term in economics and some social sciences, often posted by departments or research institutes, while preprint is the usual term in the natural and health sciences. Both are complete but not yet peer reviewed. The main practical difference is that preprint servers typically assign DOIs and link to later published versions.

Can a preprint be cited in a grant application?

Many funders now allow or encourage citing preprints in applications, especially to show recent work, though policies vary. Label each one clearly as a preprint and include its DOI. Some funders ask that preprints be distinguished from peer reviewed publications in track records, so check the scheme's guidance before listing them together.

Does posting a preprint give up copyright?

Usually not in the sense of transferring it to a publisher, but you choose a licence when posting, which controls how others can reuse the work. Some licences allow broad reuse with attribution; others are more restrictive. The licence can affect later journal agreements, so check the target journal's policy before selecting one.

Can a preprint be removed after posting?

Generally no. Because preprints receive DOIs and may already be cited, servers keep them available. If a preprint contains a serious error, authors can post a revised version or request withdrawal, which usually leaves a notice explaining the reason in place of the full text. This permanence is a reason to check a manuscript carefully before posting.

How can readers judge a preprint's quality?

The same way they would judge any paper, with extra care: check the design, sample size, analysis and whether conclusions match the data. Look for public comments, later versions and any linked published article. Preprints from registered trials can be compared against their registry entry. Absence of peer review does not mean poor quality, but it does mean nobody independent has checked it yet.

What is a postprint and why does it matter?

A postprint, or author accepted manuscript, is the final text after peer review but before the journal's formatting. Many journals allow authors to share it in repositories, sometimes after an embargo. It gives readers free access to peer reviewed content when the published version is behind a paywall, and it is often the version open access policies require authors to deposit.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked 13 September 2026.