1. Promoting a culture of preprinting in the life sciences
Jessica Polka
Director, ASAPbio
Visiting Scholar, Whitehead Institute
@jessicapolka | #ASAPbio
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

2. Science is collaborative
and competitive
Photo by calafellvalo
Photo by George Makris
Speed benefits both science and scientists

3. Publishing is taking longer than ever
Publishing is tied to evaluation
Time to first author paper
Ron Vale – bioRxiv & PNAS 2015
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

4. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Preprints are manuscripts shared online before the completion of journal-organized peer review.
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

5. Preprints are widespread in other disciplines
Founded in 1991
>100,000 preprints posted per year* *
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

6. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Traditional publishing can hide work for months or years
Peer reviewed paper
Months to years
Community feedback, ideas, discussion
Public
Private
Journal 1
Journal 2
Journal 3
Submit
Manuscript
Peer Review
Revise
Revise
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Emojis by Mozilla (CC BY 4.0)

7. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Preprints make work available almost immediately
Preprint server
Peer reviewed paper
Months to years
<48 hrs screening process
Community feedback, ideas, discussion
Public
Private
Journal 1
Journal 2
Journal 3
Submit
Manuscript
Peer Review
Revise
Revise
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Emojis by Mozilla (CC BY 4.0)

8. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Preprints are…
Permanent
Versioned
Citable
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

9. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
A biologist-driven non-profit working to make life sciences communication faster & more transparent
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

10. Preprinting is growing rapidly in the life sciences
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Jordan Anaya of prepubmed.org

11. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

12. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Funders encouraging preprints as evidence of productivity in grant applications & reports
Current list and links to policies at asapbio.org/funder-policies
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

13. BioRxiv preprints have been published in…
As of December 2016
journal frequency
unpublished
PLOS ONE 157
Bioinformatics 120
Scientific Reports 103
eLife 97
Genetics 91
PLOS Genetics 73
PNAS 70
PLOS Comp Biology 69
G3 66
Nucleic Acids Research 55
Genome Research 46
BMC Genomics 44
Mol Bio and Evolution 38
BMC Bioinformatics 34
Molecular Ecology 27
Nature Genetics 27
NeuroImage 25
PeerJ 24
Evolution 23
Genome Bio and Evolution 23
Nature Methods 21
Am J of Human Genetics 20
Systematic Biology 20
F1000Research 18
Cell Reports 17
J of the Royal Soc Interface 16
J of Theoretical Biology 16
PLOS Neg Trop Diseases 16
Genome Medicine 15
Biology Open 14
Frontiers in Microbiology 14
GigaScience 14
ACS Synthetic Biology 13
Biophysical Journal 13
Journal of Neuroscience 13
Mol Biology Of The Cell 13
Molecular Ecology Res 13
Nature 13
Nature Neuroscience 13
Molecular Bio And Evolution 12
PLOS Biology 12
Proceedings B 12
Science 12
Development 11 ……
#ASAPbio

14. Preprint servers as a marketplace for editors
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

15. Preprint servers as a marketplace for editors
academickarma.org/unsubmitted
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

16. Preprint servers as a marketplace for editors
“we now have a dedicated team of editors who will focus on identifying [preprints] that are potentially suitable for publication in PLOS Genetics.” *
* Bringing PLOS Genetics Editors to Preprint Servers
Gregory S. Barsh, Casey M. Bergman, Christopher D. Brown, Nadia D. Singh, Gregory P. Copenhaver
Published: December 1,
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

17. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
But…
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

18. Preprint adoption in perspective
Challenge: increasing productive* adoption
*adhering to best practices, positive effect on science
PubMed: ~100,000 articles/month
All life sciences preprints: ~1,500/month
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

19. The cycle of cultural change
Cultural Capital (values/beliefs)
“What’s a preprint?”
“No one I know preprints”
Behavioral intention
Behavioral norm
“Preprints are dangerous”
Behavior
Behavioral drivers
Behavioral path
Adapted from Knott, Muers, Aldridge, Achieving Culture Change: A Policy Framework. UK Cabinet Office Strategy Unit.
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

20. Promoting preprint awareness through peers
Asapbio.org/stickers
asapbio.org/asapbio-ambassadors
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

21. Preprint journal clubs
Meaningful exercise: send feedback to authors to improve their paper
Teach students how to write a review
 Prachee Avasthi at the University of Kansas Medical Center draws material for her “Analysis of Scientific Papers” course exclusively from preprint servers. She’s generously shared her syllabus and introductory slide deck, and the students’ reviews can be found on the Winnower.
asapbio.org/10-ways
preprintjc.org
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

22. The cycle of cultural change
Cultural Capital (values/beliefs)
“What’s a preprint?”
“No one I know preprints”
Behavioral intention
Behavioral norm
Fear of being scooped
“Preprints are dangerous”
Behavior
No recognition by funders & universities
Behavioral drivers
Objection from advisors/coauthors
Choosing/ complying with policy
“Will journals allow preprints?”
Behavioral path
Adapted from Knott, Muers, Aldridge, Achieving Culture Change: A Policy Framework. UK Cabinet Office Strategy Unit.
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

23. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Current policies vary
Elsevier: “anywhere at any time”
Wiley: “non-commercial servers”
Nature: “community preprint servers such as arXiv and bioRxiv”
NIH:
Content is findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.
Interim product metadata, including usage statistics, are open, and easy to access by machines and people (e.g. via application program interfaces).
Content is easy to use by machines and people. This access is both a function of permission (e.g. use of Creative Commons licenses) and technology (e.g. application program interfaces).
Policies about plagiarism, competing interests, misconduct and other hallmarks of reputable scholarly publishing are rigorous and transparent.
Records of changes to the product are maintained, and users have clear ways to cite different versions of the product.
Links to the published version, if available.
A robust archiving strategy that ensures long-term preservation and access.
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

24. How should preprints be licensed?
Language removed as of August 2017
“Creative Commons licenses are not compatible with the [PNAS] License to Publish. Authors are requested to select the “no reuse” distribution/reuse option.” 
“To maximize the impact of an interim research product, the NIH strongly encourages awardees to select a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license or dedicate their work to the public domain.  ”
We have established a task force on licensing
ASAPbio.org/licensing
#ASAPbio

25. Promoting best practices
Access
Licensing
Pay & registration walls
Assistive technology
Machines
Preservation
Metadata & links to versions/records
Screening & moderation policies
Scope
Pre-screening
Removal
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka

26. @ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka
Thank you!
asapbio.org
@ASAPbio_
#ASAPbio
@jessicapolka
ASAPbio board
Ron Vale (Founder/President)
Cynthia Wolberger
Jaime Fraser
Harold Varmus
Daniel Colon-Ramos
Tony Hyman
Harlan Krumholz
Dick Wilder (non-voting)
@ASAPbio_ | #ASAPbio | @jessicapolka