Preprint General Guidelines
_Disclaimer: in this broad set of guidelines, we are focused on primary research articles that detail authors’ original research work, not review articles that offer an overview of a field. _
**Section 1: What are the components of a preprint? **
Manuscript: A preprint should have all the sections that are contained within a traditionally published peer review article that are fully fleshed out. This set of guidelines will not cover all the necessary details of each section, as there are many resources that cover such topics in depth. Instead, we will focus on the most relevant information, specifically for preprints.
The following sections are necessary in preprints, as they are meant to be full manuscripts:
- Introduction
- Do you have the relevant information that readers need in order to understand the significance of your results?
- Are all relevant prior works cited, including other preprints?
- Methods
- Are all experiments completed and analyzed in full?
- Are methods detailed enough for another scientist to be able to reproduce your experimentation fully?
- Do all reagents contain company and catalog number information?
- Results
- Are the results of each experiment explained in the main text or supplemental and properly referenced to the appropriate figure number/panel?
- Are the figures well organized?
- Does each figure contain enough information, i.e. make sure axes are well labeled and defined, etc.
- Discussion
- Are the interpretations of the results specific and supported by the experiments presented?
- Are prior works relevant to your findings properly discussed and cited, including other preprints?
- Are you watching to NOT overstate your findings that could be potentially further inflated by the media and the general public, which could lead to misinformation?
- Conclusion
- Do the experimental results directly inform the ultimate conclusions?
- Are the conclusions well supported by the results, and not overanalyzed or misrepresented?
- Are you watching your writing style and word choice so that you are NOT exaggerating your findings, or the impact of your results?
Data and code availability: Although optional and up to authors’ discretion, it is strongly recommended to share your data and the code that was used to analyze your data along with the preprint. Preprints are part of a wider spectrum of open and accessible science, and so making your data available to the public serves the greater purpose of making research available to all. If you choose to post your data and code, it is important to make sure that all website links correspond to the correct website page.
- Data
- Choose a repository to deposit the data.
- Each field will have different repositories e.g INSDC (genomics data)
- Can also deposit data onto your lab or personal website.
- Does the meta-data include information about each sample in each experiment? Is there a clear annotation that marks this information?
- Are you including all samples that are analyzed within the manuscript?
- Can you supply both the raw data and the final analyzed data?
- Code
- Choose a repository to deposit the code. Popular ones include: GitHub, Gitlab and Bitbucket
- Deposit the code and use a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) - A standardized unchanging string of letters, numbers and symbols that uniquely identifies a digital “document” and functions as a link to it. Can be generated using open source platforms such as Zenodo (once data/code is uploaded, then a DOI can be generated)
- Data and Code Sharing
- Are the links to the sites where the data and code have been deposited available?
- Do all links within the manuscript and the supplemental material actually link to the correct websites?
**Section 2: What are the steps in posting my preprint to a public server? **
Once a manuscript has been duly drafted, reviewed and approved by the authors, then the final step is to post it to a preprint server. At this last stage a few key considerations should be made to assist the author in making the right choices in posting the preprint.
- Get the consent of the co-authors to post the preprint.
- Double check journal policies on when and where preprints may be posted.
- Does the target journal allow submission of preprints?
- Which version of the manuscript is permitted?
- Which type of licenses are supported?
- Do they offer any scoop protection policy?
- Choose a preprint server.
- Is the manuscrit within the scope of the server?
- Consider visibility, funder recommendations, and features like preservation and indexing, which are cataloged in the ASAPbio’s list of preprint servers.
- Choose a license.
- Upload any code/data/reagents you want to share to appropriate repositories.
- Post the preprint!
- Invite feedback via social media or email