A preprint is a piece of research that has not yet been peer reviewed and published in a journal. In most cases, they can be considered final drafts or working papers. Preprints is a multidisciplinary preprint platform that makes scientific manuscripts from all fields of research immediately available. It is a free, not-for-profit service supported by the open access publisher MDPI.

Preprints are posted online free of charge. See the instructions for authors for further details of how to upload your paper, or submit now.

Our submission platform is very simple. If you don’t have an account, first create one using our one-step registration process. Next click submit your manuscript by uploading the files, and giving basic details about the paper and authors. The final step is to confirm the conditions for posting your preprint. Make sure you have read the instructions for authors before submitting. Authors can also choose to submit their manuscripts to Preprints when submitting to any MDPI journal. If your manuscript has already been posted as a preprint, you may consider submitting it to an appropriate MDPI journal.

All preprints undergo a short screening before being put online. This process takes less than 24 hours in most cases. Screening includes checks for basic scientific content, author background, and compliance with ethical standards. It is carried out by Preprints staff, with the support of active researchers and the Preprints advisory board.

If you are a researcher interested in screening manuscripts, see further details here.

Preprints that pass the screening process are posted online in open access format under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. This gives maximum visibility to authors, while ensuring that they are properly recognized for their work. Once online, preprints can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited.

There are a number of ways to make sure you find the preprints most relevant to you. You can:

• Search our website.
• Check for the latest preprints in your subject area.
• Sign up for alerts (requires a Preprints account).
• Find our preprints through an indexing database.
• Join or start a preprint journal club, discuss preprints with colleagues and provide useful feedback to the authors.

By using an open access license, our preprints are free for anyone to download and read.

Posted preprints are registered with Crossref to receive a digital object identifier (DOI). This means that they are citable. Details on how to cite are included on the abstract page of the preprint.

If the preprint is published in a journal, we will link directly to the journal version from the abstract page and PDF, making sure that readers have access to the latest version.

In order to protect the integrity of the citation record, preprints assigned a DOI are only withdrawn under exceptional circumstances.These circumstances are outlined in our Instructions for Authors under `Manuscript Withdrawal`.

The open access license we use for preprints allows them to be reused. This includes distributing the work to colleagues, teaching, journal clubs, press releases, and so on. Under the licensing terms, authors receive attribution and recognition for their work for any parts that are reproduced.

Preprints have not been peer reviewed, so some caution and responsibility are required when resuing them. For cases where it is crucial that the details of the paper are correct, readers should rely on professional advice and can check on the abstract page whether a peer reviewed version is available.

Readers can comment on any preprint, and feedback from logged-in users is posted immediately. These comments are highly valued by authors and can help to improve papers before journal publication. You can use the comments to give a general opinion of the research presented, make suggestions for extension or improvement, or to highlight certain parts for other readers.

Readers who would like their comment to be counted as a review can receive credit from Publons by linking their account.

Comments must follow the standards of professional discourse and should focus on the scientific content of the article. Insulting or offensive language, personal attacks, and off-topic remarks will not be permitted. Readers who post comments are obliged to declare any competing interests, financial or otherwise. Preprints reserves the right to remove comments without notice.

With preprints, authors are in control of when their work appears. If they want to change or add to the paper, they can submit a new version at any time. To ensure that citations are not affected, preprints assigned a DOI will have a new DOI issued for each version.