Preprint

Research

A research manuscript shared publicly before formal peer review, often via servers like arXiv or bioRxiv.

Sources

1. ICMJE Recommendations — Overlapping Publications (III.D.3, Preprints) icmje.org accessed 22 September 2026

The ICMJE describes preprints as “work that is not peer reviewed”, and addresses the question authors actually worry about — whether posting one rules out journal publication. It does not: the recommendation “does not prevent a journal from considering a complete report that follows publication of a preliminary report, such as a letter to the editor, a preprint or an abstract.” The ICMJE does note that posting “may influence a journal’s interest in or priority for peer review and publication”, and expects authors to disclose the preprint to the journal and to point the preprint at the published article once it appears.

This entry is sourced to a body with standing over the practice it names, which is tier 1 of this lexicon’s rule for research terms. Where a definition is quoted, it is the body’s own wording; the reading of what it implies is this lexicon’s.

Related terms

• Abbreviation
• Abstract
• Abstraction
• Academic Database
• Analysis
• Annotation

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).