A preprint is a version of a scientific manuscript posted on a public server prior to any formal peer review. Once it is posted, your preprint becomes a permanent part of the scientific record and is citable with its own unique DOI. By sharing your research early, you can accelerate the speed at which science moves forward.
At the Lancet, preprints are primarily intended for research use, similar to conference abstracts or presentations, and intra-institutional discussions of research projects. By using the online environment, authors widen the opportunity for receiving comments on their work by other researchers with the goal of an improved final peer-reviewed publication and for exchange of research areas with the future potential for collaboration.
Preprints are not peer-reviewed and should not be used for clinical decision making or reporting of research to a lay audience without indicating that it is preliminary research that has not been peer-reviewed. In 2018, the Lancet journals initiated a collaboration with the research sharing platform SSRN to offer authors a dedicated preprint area called Preprints with The Lancet. Preprints available via SSRN are not Lancet publications or necessarily under review with a Lancet journal.
We welcome any feedback or comments at [email protected]. For more information please read the Comment and visit our Preprints FAQ page or read the Comments by Lancet Editors:
