The promise of community-driven preprints in ecology and evolution

Journal article

Daniel W. A. Noble, Zoe A. Xirocostas, N. Wu, A. Martinig, Rafaela A. Almeida, Kevin R Bairos-Novak, Heikel Balti, Michael G. Bertram, Louis Bliard, Jack A. Brand, Ilha Byrne, Ying-Chi Chan, D. Clink, Quentin Corbel, Ricardo A. Correia, J. Crawford-Ash, A. Čulina, Elvira D’Bastiani, Gideon G Deme, Melina de Souza Leite, F. Dhellemmes, Shreya Dimri, Szymek M Drobniak, Alexander D Elsy, S. E. Everingham, S. Gascoigne, Matthew J. Grainger, Gavin C Hossack, K. Hovstad, E. Ivimey-Cook, Matt Lloyd Jones, I. Kačergytė, Georg Küstner, Dalton C Leibold, Magdalena M. Mair, Jake M. Martin, Ayumi Mizuno, Iain R. Moodie, David Moreau, R. E. O’Dea, J. A. Orr, Matthieu Paquet, Rabindra Parajuli, Joel L. Pick, Patrice Pottier, Marija Purgar, Pablo Recio, Dominique G. Roche, R. Royauté, Saeed Shafiei Sabet, Júlio M. G. Segovia, Inês Silva, A. Sánchez‐Tójar, Bruno E. Soares, B. Szabo, E. Takola, E. Thoré, Bishnu Timilsina, Natalie E. van Dis, W. Verberk, S. Vriend, Kristoffer H. Wild, Coralie Williams, Yefeng Yang, S. Nakagawa, M. Lagisz
Proceedings B, 2025

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APA Click to copy
Noble, D. W. A., Xirocostas, Z. A., Wu, N., Martinig, A., Almeida, R. A., Bairos-Novak, K. R., … Lagisz, M. (2025). The promise of community-driven preprints in ecology and evolution. Proceedings B.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Noble, Daniel W. A., Zoe A. Xirocostas, N. Wu, A. Martinig, Rafaela A. Almeida, Kevin R Bairos-Novak, Heikel Balti, et al. “The Promise of Community-Driven Preprints in Ecology and Evolution.” Proceedings B (2025).

MLA Click to copy
Noble, Daniel W. A., et al. “The Promise of Community-Driven Preprints in Ecology and Evolution.” Proceedings B, 2025.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{daniel2025a,
  title = {The promise of community-driven preprints in ecology and evolution},
  year = {2025},
  journal = {Proceedings B},
  author = {Noble, Daniel W. A. and Xirocostas, Zoe A. and Wu, N. and Martinig, A. and Almeida, Rafaela A. and Bairos-Novak, Kevin R and Balti, Heikel and Bertram, Michael G. and Bliard, Louis and Brand, Jack A. and Byrne, Ilha and Chan, Ying-Chi and Clink, D. and Corbel, Quentin and Correia, Ricardo A. and Crawford-Ash, J. and Čulina, A. and D’Bastiani, Elvira and Deme, Gideon G and de Souza Leite, Melina and Dhellemmes, F. and Dimri, Shreya and Drobniak, Szymek M and Elsy, Alexander D and Everingham, S. E. and Gascoigne, S. and Grainger, Matthew J. and Hossack, Gavin C and Hovstad, K. and Ivimey-Cook, E. and Jones, Matt Lloyd and Kačergytė, I. and Küstner, Georg and Leibold, Dalton C and Mair, Magdalena M. and Martin, Jake M. and Mizuno, Ayumi and Moodie, Iain R. and Moreau, David and O’Dea, R. E. and Orr, J. A. and Paquet, Matthieu and Parajuli, Rabindra and Pick, Joel L. and Pottier, Patrice and Purgar, Marija and Recio, Pablo and Roche, Dominique G. and Royauté, R. and Sabet, Saeed Shafiei and Segovia, Júlio M. G. and Silva, Inês and Sánchez‐Tójar, A. and Soares, Bruno E. and Szabo, B. and Takola, E. and Thoré, E. and Timilsina, Bishnu and van Dis, Natalie E. and Verberk, W. and Vriend, S. and Wild, Kristoffer H. and Williams, Coralie and Yang, Yefeng and Nakagawa, S. and Lagisz, M.}
}

Abstract

Publishing preprints is quickly becoming commonplace in ecology and evolutionary biology. Preprints can facilitate the rapid sharing of scientific knowledge establishing precedence and enabling feedback from the research community before peer review. Yet, significant barriers to preprint use exist, including language barriers, a lack of understanding about the benefits of preprints and a lack of diversity in the types of research outputs accepted (e.g. reports). Community-driven preprint initiatives can allow a research community to come together to break down these barriers to improve equity and coverage of global knowledge. Here, we explore the first preprints uploaded to EcoEvoRxiv (n = 1216), a community-driven preprint server for ecologists and evolutionary biologists, to characterize preprint use in ecology, evolution and conservation. Our perspective piece highlights some of the unique initiatives that EcoEvoRxiv has taken to break down barriers to scientific publishing by exploring the composition of articles, how gender and career stage influence preprint use, whether preprints are associated with greater open science practices (e.g. code and data sharing) and tracking preprint publication outcomes. Our analysis identifies areas that we still need to improve upon but highlights how community-driven initiatives, such as EcoEvoRxiv, can play a crucial role in shaping publishing practices in biology.