Preprints.org is an open access multidisciplinary preprint platform that welcomes research across all fields, including the following:

• Biology and Life Sciences;
• Business and Economics;
• Chemistry and Material Science;
• Computer Science and Mathematics;
• Engineering;
• Environmental and Earth Sciences;
• Medicine and Pharmacology;
• Physical Sciences;
• Public Health and Healthcare;
• Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities.

The details of these research fields can be found here.

Preprints.org publishes articles from all fields of research that report scientifically sound original research or present a comprehensive review of a field. The following types of articles are generally suitable:

• Article
• Review
• Conference Paper (only full conference papers that have not been peer-reviewed and do not have a DOI can be accepted; abstracts will not be accepted);
• Data Descriptor
• Essay
• Brief Report
• Case Report
• Communication
• Short Note
• Technical Note
• Hypothesis

Other article types may be accepted at the discretion of the editorial team. We typically do not permit editorials, discussion papers, or coursework.

Authors may submit their manuscripts to Preprints.org after submission to a peer-reviewed venue (e.g., a journal or conference proceedings), as long as this does not conflict with the venue’s policy, and before formal acceptance for publication by the venue.

We welcome manuscripts reporting negative or non-significant results.

We recommend against posting the same paper to multiple preprint servers. Metrics may be underestimated when a manuscript is posted on multiple preprint servers, and readers may be confused by duplicate postings across platforms. Posting a substantially revised version of a preprint on Preprints.org is permitted even if an earlier version has been posted elsewhere. However, it is recommended that all versions of a manuscript be hosted on the same preprint server to maximize transparency and ensure the completeness of the record.

All authors must be aware of the submission to Preprints.org and agree to the authorship. All those who meet the authorship criteria should be listed. Those who contributed to the work but do not qualify for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgments. We recommend referring to the ICMJE recommendations about authorship and the Credit taxonomy.

Any change to the author list should be approved by all authors, including those who have been removed from the list. The corresponding author’s roles and responsibilities are as follows:

• Inform all co-authors of the submission to Preprints.org (note: each co-author will receive a confirmation email upon submission).
• Manage correspondence between Preprints.org and co-authors, keeping the full co-author group informed throughout the submission, announcement, and update process.
• Ensure that all co-authors understand Preprints.org's policies (including such items as publication ethics, data and supplementary material deposition, conditions for withdrawal, copyright, and licenses).
• Take full responsibility for answering questions/comments regarding the announced preprint, as well as providing data or materials requested.

Preprints.org follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) position statement when it comes to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technology in manuscript preparation. AI tools such as ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) do not meet authorship criteria and thus cannot be listed as authors on manuscripts. Use of AI tools and LLM should be properly documented in the Methods section (and if a Methods section is not available, in a suitable alternative part) of the manuscript. The authors are responsible for the final text and should check for errors introduced by such tools.

ORCIDs are standard, persistent identifiers for authors. We encourage all authors to link their ORCID to their Preprints.org account during the submission process.

Preprints.org recognizes that authors may change their names for various personal or professional reasons, such as marriage, divorce, gender transition, or cultural preference. Therefore, Preprints.org allows author name changes upon request without requiring the posting of a follow-up version. This provision does not apply to author name removals or reordering of the author list. However, such changes may not be reflected in third-party indexing services. In such cases, submitting a revised version of the article is recommended to ensure the update is properly reflected.

Any style is allowed for submitted papers. However, it is recommended that you use Preprints.org’s template. You can download it here . If using a journal template, all publisher and journal logos and names should be removed from both the manuscript and any supplementary materials. The first page of your manuscript must contain the title, author list, abstract, keywords, corresponding author contact details, and affiliations for all authors.

In order to facilitate author identification, authors should use institutional email addresses (e.g., those provided by a university) where possible, or email addresses used in previously published papers. We recommend the use of ORCID identifiers.

Files should be submitted in Microsoft Word or LaTeX format. For LaTeX files, ensure that all files necessary, including the .bib file, if applicable, to recreate the PDF are included in a zip or similar archive.

To ensure readability and clarity, we recommend producing a graphical abstract to display on the website alongside the textual abstract. The graphic should be provided as a JPG or PNG file. Please note that a screenshot of the textual abstract does not qualify as a graphical abstract. Files submitted as graphical abstracts that do not meet the required criteria will be removed prior to the manuscript’s posting.

All submissions to Preprints.org must include a comprehensive bibliography showing relevance to recent research and, if reporting original experimental research, have the structure of a research article (introduction, methods, results, and discussion).

In order to maintain transparency and integrity, Preprints.org requires that authors make all data associated with their submission available where there are no legal or confidentiality constraints in doing so. We encourage authors to follow FAIR data principles and upload data to a recognized data repository before posting a preprint (such as one from Re3data). Authors can also upload supplementary materials in any format along with their preprint.

Links to data hosted externally to Preprints.org can be added during submission. If you need to include these links after submission, please contact the editor for assistance.

If you have updated supplemental files, but there are no changes to the main manuscript, please still submit a new version.

Once you have carefully checked the criteria above, click the Submit button in the top-right corner of the website to submit your manuscript. You will need to have an MDPI account and log in to submit.

Authors submitting to MDPI journals have the option to submit to Preprints.org during journal submission. This option can be found on the Manuscript Information Overview page after the journal submission has been completed.

While most journals accept preprint submissions, some may not. We recommend checking all journals you will potentially submit to. A list of journal policies can be found in the Sherpa Romeo database. The best practice is to contact the journal directly if you have any concerns about their policy.

Please also ensure compliance with the policies of your funding agency or institution regarding preprint posting. When submitting your manuscript to a journal, you may be required to declare that a preprint version exists.

If you intend to register a patent based on the work, do not post a preprint, as it will compromise your application.

Preprints.org adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics(COPE) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines. Note that COPE does not currently cover preprints specifically, but many of the same principles apply, including the following:

• Authors must accurately present their research findings and include an objective discussion of the significance of their findings.
• Plagiarism, data fabrication, and image manipulation, knowingly providing incorrect information, copyright infringement, inaccurate author attributions, attempts to inappropriately manipulate the screening process, failures to declare conflicts of interest, fraud, and libel are not permitted.
• Posting of submitted materials must not be illegal.

• Manuscripts containing research conducted on humans or experimental animals must follow the Declaration of Helsinki and contain details of approval from a research ethics committee. At a minimum, the project identification code, date of approval, and name of the ethics committee or institutional review board should be cited in the "Methods" section.

• Informed consent of research participants must be obtained where necessary, and authors must be able to provide a (redacted) copy of the consent form.

Preprints.org will rigorously enforce its standards and will follow up on cases of infringement. In extreme cases, we may call on individuals to be reported to their institutions. Any complaints should be directed to info@preprints.org.

Please note that any violation of these ethical standards may lead to the rejection or withdrawal of the manuscript.

It is essential that authors obtain permission to reproduce any published material (figures, schemes, tables, or any extract of a text) that does not fall into the public domain or for which they do not hold the copyright. The authors must request permission from the copyright holder prior to posting to Preprints.org.

Permission is required for the following:

• Your own works published by other publishers and for which you did not retain copyright.
• Substantial extracts from anyone else's works.
• Use of tables, graphs, charts, schemes, and artworks, if they are unaltered or with minor changes.
• Photographs for which you do not hold the copyright.

Permission is not required for the following:

• Reconstruction of your own table with data already published elsewhere. Please note that in this case, you must cite the source of the data in the form of either "Data from..." or "Adapted from...".
• Short quotes that are considered fair use and therefore do not require permission (these must still be properly cited).
• Graphs, charts, schemes, and artworks that have been completely redrawn by the authors and significantly changed beyond recognition.

It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that they only upload content they have the legal right to share. Preprints.org is not responsible for verifying the copyright status of submitted content.

Preprints.org applies the following ICMJE definition of a conflict of interest: “A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients’ welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain). Perceptions of conflict of interest are as important as actual conflicts of interest.”

All authors must disclose all relationships or interests that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include but are not limited to financial interests (such as membership, employment, consultancies, stocks/shares ownership, honoraria, grants or other funding, paid expert testimonies, and patent-licensing arrangements) and non-financial interests (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, and personal beliefs).

Authors can disclose potential conflicts of interest via the online submission system during the submission process. Declarations regarding conflicts of interest can also be collected via the MDPI disclosure form. The corresponding author must include a summary statement in the manuscript in a separate section “Conflicts of Interest” placed just before the reference list. The statement should reflect all the collected potential conflict of interest disclosures in the form.

See below for examples of disclosures:

Conflicts of Interest: Author A has received research grants from Company A. Author B has received a speaker honorarium from Company X and owns stocks in Company Y. Author C has been involved as a consultant and expert witness in Company Z. Author D is the inventor of patent X.

If no conflicts exist, the authors should state the following:

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

It is important that all authors understand that preprints cannot be completely removed once posted. Once a digital object identifier (DOI) is registered, information about the preprint is permanently available. In addition, a number of databases or other sources may collect information about posted preprints that can no longer be removed.

Preprints may be edited or deleted up until the time that they are submitted and announced. From that time on, preprints will only be withdrawn at the discretion of Preprints.org editors and the advisory board for the following reasons:

• Misconduct by authors, including plagiarism and data fabrication.
• Serious scientific errors that cannot be corrected by updating the paper.
• Serious concerns to which the readers should be alerted.

A preprint will only be removed from the Preprints.org website and, if possible, relevant indexing databases in very exceptional circumstances, such as the following:

• The removal has been requested by an order from a court or government authority;
• Leaving a paper online would constitute an illegal act, including copyright violation;
• The content poses a threat to personal privacy or the legal rights of other parties, which cannot be adequately addressed through preprint version updates;
• The research was conducted or published unlawfully, and its ongoing presence may lead to potential legal issues or privacy concerns;
• Although marked as withdrawn, the content poses risks to the general public.

Preprints.org does not conduct peer review for submitted manuscripts. Upon submission, each manuscript undergoes a screening process to ensure the following:

• The content is written in English.
• The content has not been previously published.
• The content adheres to basic publishing ethics, and the authors comply with international research ethics regulations.
• The number of independent manuscripts an author can write is limited. Therefore, excessive submissions within a short period may require justification and could be rejected.
• All authors are genuine scholars; submissions with fake names or email addresses may be rejected.
• Authors disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
• The submission includes all necessary figures, references, and other critical components.
• The content does not contain harmful, provocative, controversial, or pseudoscientific statements. Manuscripts drawing strong conclusions without fully accessible supporting data may also be rejected.
• Any use of AI is clearly disclosed and conforms to our policy.

Additionally, if an author submits multiple similar manuscripts or a new submission appears to be a revision of a recent one, we may request that the submissions be treated as new versions of the same work or reject them.

Preprints.org reserves the right to decline posting a preprint for reasons not explicitly stated above.

The screening process typically takes 24 hours by our trained editors during the working day. If any further information is required, you will be contacted by an editor. Additionally, if you are interested in helping with screening preprints, click here to apply.

Authors may want to update their online preprints when they have additional information to report or have received feedback/comments from others. Preprints.org encourages authors to Submit updated versions of their works whenever they find it necessary.

However, to manage resources and editors’ time, we may ask authors to limit the frequency of follow-up submissions. For example, submitting multiple updated versions per week (e.g., 2–3 times) may be considered too frequent. The recommended submission frequency is once every two weeks or once per month.

Minor changes, such as correcting typos, will be applied to the current version rather than creating a new version. Major changes—such as removing or reordering authors—require posting a new version, even if the main text of the manuscript remains unchanged.

If a preprint is published in a journal afterward, we will link the journal version to the abstract page and PDF, making sure that readers have access to the latest version. Authors are also encouraged to link a peer-reviewed journal version actively under the “My Preprints” tab in their profiles.

All preprints are posted using an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license This means that the work can be freely downloaded, distributed, and reused, provided that the author and preprint are cited in any reuse. This allows the maximum visibility for the work while recognizing its authors.

All authors must agree to the following statements:

• I grant Preprints.org a perpetual, non-exclusive license to distribute this preprint.
• I certify that I have the right to grant this license.
• I understand that submissions cannot be completely removed once accepted by Preprints.org and may appear on websites other than Preprints.org.

Manuscripts are initially posted in PDF format upon publication. The full-text HTML version of a preprint typically becomes available within one week of posting.

All preprints on Preprints.org are permanently archived at Portico.