In academia, it is very important to be ethical and to ensure your ideas are not copied or scooped before you can prove that you came up with the idea first. To enable this, pre-print repositories like ArXiv were setup to give research work a timestamp when submitted. This could help any researcher prove that they came up with an idea first. Any work found on a pre-print repository is not a credible source of information, since it has not yet been peer-reviewed. However, since ArXiv has a very strict moderation policy that results even in experienced scholars having their papers rejected, ArXiv does not fulfill the purpose of being a pre-print archive. The delay in moderation, the need for endorsement from somebody else and the rejection can just end up allowing time delays that can result in work getting scooped. Many other pre-print repositories have come up, and it's considered ok to upload your research paper to multiple repositories.
Some of these free repositories are:
Some precautions before submitting to a pre-print
Remember that there are some journals and conferences that do a double-blind review of your paper, and they will not accept a paper that is uploaded to a pre-print repository. so if you plan to submit to a certain journal or conference, first check their website or write to them asking if they allow papers that are on a pre-print repository.
A quick way to search is by using Google's tools:
Careful of predatory journals or conferences
Some journals will offer to get your paper published for free without any peer review process. Avoid such journals. It can lower your academic standing. I was contacted by one such journal which quoted an ISSN number on their website. When I searched, I realized that such an ISSN number didn't even exist!!! Always make sure your work is properly peer reviewed by reputable journals. In the tech world, journals with a Scopus index are safe.
In conclusion
Writing research papers is a time-consuming and cumbersome process. All that hard-work should not go for a waste. Pre-print repositories are a very useful means of proving precedence of your idea. They are also meant for inviting comments from colleagues, before you decide to submit it to a conference or journal. Websites like ResearchGate will automatically detect your work on pre-print repositories and link it to your ResearchGate account, making it easy to share your work and to invite comments on ResearchGate, because it automatically notifies the authors you have cited in your paper.
To simplify people's research process and to make available information on research and publications, I've curated a small collection of helpful documents from multiple people.
ps: On a more personal note, I feel that researchers who advance the knowledge of mankind and who are the backbone of the technological capability of society, need more respect and recognition in society. The level of detail they go into, the expertise they acquire in each subject and the rigor of research makes them an elite force. It's unfair that companies and publishers make profits form their ideas but the researchers don't profit from it. How did researchers even agree to such a raw deal? Publish or perish? I dearly wish that the world figures out a way to ensure that researchers are able to monetize their contributions much better than they currently are. If not that, then at least provide them privileges and conveniences that make life easier for them. All the benefits of technology we enjoy are because of them. We must never forget the shoulders we stand on.
Some of these free repositories are:
- ViXra: This pre-print repository is far more accepting than ArXiv, and was created as a means of allowing genuine research work to get a timestamp. I found their FAQ to be far more insightful and enlightening than any other pre-print's FAQ. I encourage reading their FAQ. It mentions a lot of useful information about what you should and should not do with your pre-prints. I feel ViXra is one of the only pre-print repositories that actually honors the purpose of being a pre-print repository. Hence, this is the only repository I would trust, because I know that when I submit a genuine paper to them, they will give me a timestamp for my work instead of delaying it or rejecting it.
- TechRxiv: A pre-print repository setup by IEEE. I've found them to be good, but there are chances of a reviewer not accepting a paper and having to appeal to the editor until they allow a re-upload. The whole process can take a few weeks...enough time for getting scooped in some fields.
- IndiaRxiv: I was pleasantly surprised to find one for India. It's part of OSF, which accepts papers from multiple disciplines.
- HAL: This is a well known repository with moderation and it is said that they also allow you to transfer your paper from HAL to ArXiv.
- EngrXiv: This is also part of OSF, and has been gaining traction with researchers.
Some precautions before submitting to a pre-print
Remember that there are some journals and conferences that do a double-blind review of your paper, and they will not accept a paper that is uploaded to a pre-print repository. so if you plan to submit to a certain journal or conference, first check their website or write to them asking if they allow papers that are on a pre-print repository.
A quick way to search is by using Google's tools:
site:journalWebsiteName.com arxiv
Careful of predatory journals or conferences
Some journals will offer to get your paper published for free without any peer review process. Avoid such journals. It can lower your academic standing. I was contacted by one such journal which quoted an ISSN number on their website. When I searched, I realized that such an ISSN number didn't even exist!!! Always make sure your work is properly peer reviewed by reputable journals. In the tech world, journals with a Scopus index are safe.
In conclusion
Writing research papers is a time-consuming and cumbersome process. All that hard-work should not go for a waste. Pre-print repositories are a very useful means of proving precedence of your idea. They are also meant for inviting comments from colleagues, before you decide to submit it to a conference or journal. Websites like ResearchGate will automatically detect your work on pre-print repositories and link it to your ResearchGate account, making it easy to share your work and to invite comments on ResearchGate, because it automatically notifies the authors you have cited in your paper.
To simplify people's research process and to make available information on research and publications, I've curated a small collection of helpful documents from multiple people.
ps: On a more personal note, I feel that researchers who advance the knowledge of mankind and who are the backbone of the technological capability of society, need more respect and recognition in society. The level of detail they go into, the expertise they acquire in each subject and the rigor of research makes them an elite force. It's unfair that companies and publishers make profits form their ideas but the researchers don't profit from it. How did researchers even agree to such a raw deal? Publish or perish? I dearly wish that the world figures out a way to ensure that researchers are able to monetize their contributions much better than they currently are. If not that, then at least provide them privileges and conveniences that make life easier for them. All the benefits of technology we enjoy are because of them. We must never forget the shoulders we stand on.
