By SCiNiTO Team | Monday, October 20, 2025
Preprints are reshaping how scientific knowledge spreads. A recent study published in Quantitative Science Studies takes a closer look at the “preprint effect” by asking a simple but important question: Do papers shared first as preprints on bioRxiv attract more citations and online attention than those that skip the preprint stage?
The research team—Nicholas Fraser, Fakhri Momeni, Philipp Mayr, and Isabella Peters—set out to analyze how preprints interact with journal publications and influence scientific communication online.
What the Researchers Did
- Data and scope: The team collected metadata for all bioRxiv preprints deposited between November 2013 and December 2017 and matched them to their peer-reviewed journal publications.
- Groups compared:
1. Preprints that were later published in journals.
2. The journal-published versions of those same preprints.
3. Non-preprinted journal articles published in the same journals during the same time frame. - Sample size: 7,087 pairs of preprinted articles were compared against 7,087 non-preprinted controls.
Key Findings
- Citation boost for preprints: Papers with a preprint version received more citations—averaging just under 7 citations per paper—compared to just over 4 citations for non-preprinted articles. This advantage persisted for at least three years.
- More online attention: Both preprints and their journal versions received greater visibility on Twitter, blogs, and related platforms compared to non-preprinted articles.
- Direct citations to preprints: Preprints were cited directly in scholarly work, even when they hadn’t yet been peer-reviewed.
- Differences in coverage:
- Twitter and blogs: Similar attention for preprints and their journal versions.
- News outlets and Wikipedia: Less coverage of preprints, suggesting broader audiences still wait for peer-reviewed publication.
- Causation is unclear: While the patterns are strong, the authors caution that the results show associations, not definitive proof that preprints cause higher impact.
Figure 1. Journal articles that were
uploaded as preprints before being published gather more citations in the long
run than papers without a preprint version. (source: Fraser et al.)
What This Means for Researchers
• Potential benefits: Posting on bioRxiv may not just speed up dissemination—it may also lead to more citations and higher online visibility once published.
• Early scholarly influence: Direct citations to preprints highlight that research conversations often begin before peer review.
• Caution: Don’t assume causation. Other factors—such as author reputation, hot topics, or journal choice—may contribute to the boost.
Bottom Line
Preprints are no longer just a stepping stone to journal publication—they are an active part of scholarly communication. Posting manuscripts on bioRxiv appears to give researchers measurable advantages in citations and online visibility, while also starting conversations earlier in the scientific process.
As science communication evolves, preprints are carving out an increasingly visible role—especially within the researcher and expert communities.
At SCiNiTO , you can take advantage of this trend directly. Our search engine allows you to filter by article type = ‘preprint’, so you can explore bioRxiv and other preprint sources for your own research. This way, you can track early scientific conversations, discover cutting-edge work before journal publication, and understand how preprints influence your field.