Abstract
Authors’ Journeys From Preprints With The Lancet on SSRN to Publication
Sherrie L. Kelly,1 Clare F. Stone,2 Catherine Fiscus,2 Ashlie Jackman-Juler,2 Miriam Lewis Sabin1
Objective
Previous research has highlighted the importance of preprints in increasing the transparency and rapid dissemination of scientific communication. This study examines publication rates of manuscripts submitted to Preprints With The Lancet (PPwTL), a collaboration between The Lancet Group and SSRN, Elsevier’s preprint server.
Design
This quality improvement study had 3 phases. First, we assessed the number of preprints submitted, posted, and removed from PPwTL from January 1, 2018, to December 1, 2024. Second, we focus on the number of preprints submitted in this period where a version of record (VOR) can be found. Finally, we surveyed corresponding authors of preprints without publications at Elsevier to explore potential barriers to publication.
Results
From 2018 to 2024, among The Lancet Group’s 24 journals, 35,703 preprints were submitted to PPwTL with annual submissions increasing by 183% from 2089 in 2018 to 5915 in 2024 (Figure 25-1109). The annual acceptance rate declined slightly, dropping to 67% in 2024 (3987 accepted of 5915 submitted) from 72% in 2018 (1509 of 2089), while the rate of removals at the authors’ request reached 17% in 2024 (686 removed of 3987 posted), compared with 9% in 2018 (130 of 1509). Throughout this period, the average time from submission to posting was 2 days, including our screening processes. We ran an internal report to identify how many of the 35,703 preprints that were submitted have a VOR in Science Direct (Elsevier publications). We identified 18,543 (51.9%) submissions with an Elsevier VOR and 17,160 (48.0%) with no VOR in Science Direct. To identify publications from PPwTL submissions that occur in non-Elsevier journals, we cross-checked the 17,160 papers with an internal Fate of Manuscript FORMS report, which lists VORs outside of Elsevier. This report revealed 2639 of the initial 35,703 submissions (7.4%) had non-Elsevier publications in the period 2020 to 2024. The combined numbers of papers with a VOR (18,543 in Elsevier journals and 2,639 outside of Elsevier) is 21,182 and represents an overall publication rate of 56.3% for PPwTL submissions. This number is likely to be higher, because the FORMS report covers publications from 2020 to 2024 and the initial submissions data cover 2018 to 2024. Of the 2639 publications in non-Elsevier journals, 507 (19.2%) were published in Springer Nature journals; 145 (5.5%) in PLOS journals; 146 (5.5%) in BMJ journals, and 25 (0.9%) in JAMA Network journals. Findings from the ongoing author survey are anticipated in the coming months.
Conclusions
It is important to understand the impact of preprints on the scholarly record, and it’s encouraging to note the increased acceptance of preprints. A significant number of PPwTL manuscripts that do not get published in Elsevier journals nevertheless are published elsewhere, benefitting the scholarly community and strengthening the preprint/journal landscape.
1The Lancet Group, Elsevier, London, UK; 2SSRN, Elsevier, Rochester, NY, US, c.stone@elsevier.com.
Conflicts of Interest Disclosures
None reported.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their gratitude to current and former members of the Preprints WithThe Lancet-SSRN Working Group, to Aschwin Wijnsma (Elsevier) who assisted with the FORM report used to examine the fate of manuscripts in this study, and to authors who contributed to Preprints With The Lancet and responded to the survey with consent.