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Scientific Glossary

Preprint

A preprint is a scientific paper posted online before it has been checked by peer review.

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What it means

Preprints speed up sharing, but independent experts have not yet reviewed them. Many later change or are withdrawn.

Treat a preprint as provisional, and check whether it has since been published in a journal.

Also known as

  • preprints
  • pre-print
  • not yet peer reviewed

Sources

General information, not medical advice. Talk to a clinician about any decision about your health.