Most scientific journals do not consider preprint servers such as medRxiv, bioRxiv and aRxiv to be prior publication, and therefore it does not affect their willingness to publish. However, this is not the case with all publishers. Be sure to consider likely avenues of future publication before publicly archiving preprints.
A list of journals' policies on accepting preprinted manuscripts is maintained on Wikipedia.
bioRxiv has a very thorough submission guide. The submission process will require you to set up an account with bioRxiv. Once logged in, you may upload your preprint either as a single PDF file including all text and figures, or as separate files of text, tables, and figures, which will be converted into a single PDF for you. In either case, Supplementary Materials should be uploaded in a separate file. *Note – bioRxiv does not allow the following file types: PICT, bitmap, Excel, PSD. If you wish to upload files in that format, the files will need to be converted to other formats prior to uploading. Refer to their submission guide for further information.
There are many public repositories and archives currently available, and the list is expanding. To choose the repository that is best for you, find one that is publicly available, is easily searchable (both user- and machine-), can provide a DOI (digital object identifier), and has clear and rigorous policies about plagiarism and other forms of scholarly misconduct.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory maintains two preprint servers, bioRxiv, and medRxiv where you can upload your IRPs.
Looking for information about repositories for the 2023 NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy: Check out our LibGuide dedicated to this topic.
The NIH hopes to standardize the accessibility and integrity of IRPs generated through the use of NIH funds. As such, they have released guidelines for the selection of public repositories as follows:
Interim research products rely on repositories to make them public. The repository market is growing rapidly, and in many scientific disciplines, norms for interim research products are still evolving.
The NIH would like to ensure that practices for interim products facilitate the impact, measurement and the integrity of the scientific record. Specifically, the NIH strongly encourages interim research products arising from NIH funds to be deposited in repositories that ensure:
Content is findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.
Interim product metadata, including usage statistics, are open, and easy to access by machines and people (e.g. via application program interfaces).
Content is easy to use by machines and people. This access is both a function of permission (e.g. use of Creative Commons licenses) and technology (e.g. application program interfaces).
Policies about plagiarism, competing interests, misconduct and other hallmarks of reputable scholarly publishing are rigorous and transparent.
Records of changes to the product are maintained, and users have clear ways to cite different versions of the product.
Links to the published version, if available.
A robust archiving strategy that ensures long-term preservation and access.
(source: Reporting Preprints and Other Interim Research Products)
