A word you hear more and more in academia lately: preprint. A colleague saying "I uploaded the study to arXiv", or a paper showing up with a "preprint" label, is now ordinary. So what exactly is a preprint, what does it get you, and — most importantly — does it block you from submitting to a journal? This guide answers all the questions about sharing before peer review.
What is a preprint?
A preprint is a version of a paper uploaded to a public server without going through peer review. In other words, you share your research in a way everyone can access, before or at the same time as submitting to a journal.
The critical distinction: a preprint is not validated knowledge. Because it hasn't been through peer review, the quality of its content hasn't been verified by independent experts. This makes a preprint both fast and something to read carefully.
Where is it posted?
There are different preprint servers by field:
- arXiv — physics, mathematics, computer science, statistics, economics. The most established server, since 1991.
- SSRN — social sciences, law, business and economics.
- bioRxiv / medRxiv — biology and medicine/health sciences.
Most servers assign a DOI to your preprint, so your work gets a permanent address and can be cited.
Benefits
- Speed — you share your research without waiting the months of peer review; the field learns of your findings early.
- Priority — publishing an idea first reduces the risk of being "scooped" (someone else publishing the same idea first); the timestamp is yours.
- Early feedback — community comments let you strengthen the paper before submitting to a journal.
- Visibility and citations — a DOI-bearing version starts your academic visibility and citations early.
Risks and cautions
The preprint's greatest strength — speed — is also its greatest weakness: because it isn't peer-reviewed, quality isn't guaranteed. This means flawed or low-quality work can also enter circulation. When reading a preprint, treat it not as a published paper but as "a not-yet-verified early finding."
The most critical question: does it block journal submission?
Short answer: usually no. Some publishers once refused previously shared work under the "Ingelfinger rule." But in the internet age this rule has largely relaxed, and today most journals allow preprints.
Still, this doesn't hold for every journal. Policies vary; some journals specify in detail which preprint version they allow (e.g. not the post-review version). So the golden rule: after choosing your target journal, check its preprint policy before submitting.
The Türkiye context: does it count for incentives?
An important clarification: a preprint alone doesn't count as a peer-reviewed publication. UBYT, the academic incentive allowance and associate-professorship criteria are based on indexed/peer-reviewed publications; because a preprint hasn't been peer-reviewed, it doesn't substitute for a published article in these assessments. Use a preprint as a visibility and priority tool; the points come when your work is published in a peer-reviewed journal.
In short, a preprint doesn't replace peer review — it complements it. First gain visibility and priority with a preprint, then submit the same work to a peer-reviewed journal to earn both validation and academic credit.
Plan the path from preprint to publication
A preprint is a good first step; but the real goal is to publish your work in a peer-reviewed journal. Peerfect's free journal recommendation engine puts journals matching your paper's scope in front of you; by choosing the right journal with a compatible preprint policy, you turn your preprint's visibility into a publication — and academic credit.
In short: a preprint is a fast, legitimate way to share your research before peer review. It provides visibility, priority and early feedback; but it's unreviewed, offers no quality guarantee, and doesn't count for incentives on its own. Check your target journal's policy, use the preprint as a starting point, and crown your work with a peer-reviewed publication.
Sources: arXiv e-prints and the journal of record — arXiv, To ArXiv or not to ArXiv — arXiv, Preprints in motion: tracking changes between preprint and journal publication — bioRxiv. Journal policies and incentive rules can change over time; the binding sources are your target journal's policy and the current incentive/ÜAK criteria.