Guide to preprint servers across scientific disciplines
A comprehensive guide to preprint servers across all major academic disciplines, covering submission workflows, licensing, and programmatic access.
Preprints are complete research manuscripts shared publicly before formal peer review. They enable rapid dissemination of findings, establish priority of discovery, and invite community feedback before journal submission.
Key characteristics:
| Server | Disciplines | Operator | Moderation | DOI Prefix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| arXiv | Physics, Math, CS, Econ, EE, Stats, Q-Bio |
| Cornell |
| Light screening |
| 10.48550 |
| bioRxiv | Biology (all subfields) | Cold Spring Harbor | Basic screening | 10.1101 |
| medRxiv | Clinical/health sciences | Yale/BMJ/CSHL | Enhanced screening | 10.1101 |
| ChemRxiv | Chemistry | ACS | Moderate screening | 10.26434 |
| EarthArXiv | Earth/planetary sciences | Community-led | Light screening | 10.31223 |
| PsyArXiv | Psychology | COS/OSF | Light screening | 10.31234 |
| SocArXiv | Social sciences | COS/OSF | Light screening | 10.31235 |
| SSRN | Social sciences, law, economics | Elsevier | Minimal | various |
| engrXiv | Engineering | COS/OSF | Light screening | 10.31224 |
| EdArXiv | Education | COS/OSF | Light screening | 10.35542 |
| Preprints.org | Multidisciplinary | MDPI | Basic screening | 10.20944 |
| Research Square | Multidisciplinary | Springer Nature | In Review service | 10.21203 |
| TechRxiv | Electrical eng., CS | IEEE | Moderate | 10.36227 |
.tex + figures + .bbl as a single archivecs.CL) and optional cross-lists.YYMM.NNNNN (e.g., 2401.12345).# Download arXiv paper PDF programmatically
curl -o paper.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.12345
# Get metadata via arXiv API
curl "http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?id_list=2401.12345"
# bioRxiv API: search recent preprints
import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://api.biorxiv.org/details/biorxiv/2024-01-01/2024-01-31",
params={"cursor": 0, "format": "json"}
)
papers = response.json()["collection"]
for p in papers[:5]:
print(f"[{p['date']}] {p['title']} (doi: {p['doi']})")
| License | Allows Reuse | Allows Commercial | Allows Derivatives | Requires Attribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC-BY | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CC-BY-NC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| CC-BY-ND | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| CC-BY-NC-ND | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| CC0 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Recommendation: Use CC-BY for maximum openness and compatibility with funder mandates (NIH, Wellcome Trust, ERC). Use CC-BY-NC if you want to restrict commercial reuse.
Most major publishers now accept manuscripts previously posted as preprints:
Important considerations:
| Server | API Available | Bulk Download | OAI-PMH | Rate Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| arXiv | Yes (Atom) | Yes (S3 bulk) | Yes | 1 req/3 sec |
| bioRxiv | Yes (REST) | No | No | Polite use |
| SSRN | No public API | No | No | N/A |
| OSF Preprints | Yes (SHARE) | Yes | Yes | Polite use |