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NLM Update on the NIH Preprint Pilot

NLM Update on the NIH Preprint Pilot

February 2023

What's Happening With Phase Two? What Do You Need to Know?

Additional Specifics

The use of preprints in communicating the results of biomedical research surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Phase 1 of the Preprint Pilot, which focused on NIH-funded research on COVID-19, more than 3,500 preprints were added to NLM literature databases. These preprints have been viewed 4 million times and 3 million times in PMC and PubMed, respectively. NLM’s analysis of Phase 1 of the Preprint Pilot found that inclusion of preprint records in NLM literature resources successfully broadened access to NIH research—accelerating access to NIH-supported research results by more than 100 days on average, a notable period of time during a public health emergency. These preprints also supported discovery in PMC and PubMed of nearly 1,000 articles posted as preprints reporting NIH research results that had not yet been published or may not have been intended for formal journal publication. Users reported during Phase 1 that the inclusion of preprints did not decrease users’ trust of NLM and its literature resources, with some users reporting increased trust due to greater transparency offered by preprint sharing into the research process.

Building on the role of PMC as a repository for peer-reviewed articles supported by NIH under the NIH Public Access Policy, this next phase of the pilot will help us learn more about the emerging role of preprints in communicating biomedical and life science research results and accelerating and expanding discovery of those results. 

Get the full details in this piece authored by Katie Funk and featured on the NLM Director's Blog, Musings from the Mezzanine! 

Abstract

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is a Voting Member organization of NISO.