Overview
Preprint servers differ more than many authors expect. Some are discipline-specific and moderated by researchers in the field; some screen for ethics and health risk; some require an endorsement before you can post; and some content types are not accepted at all. Journals also differ: most major publishers now accept manuscripts that have been preprinted, but conditions around licenses, versions and the timing of posting vary.
We help you match the paper to an appropriate server, check the target journal's and funder's policies, choose a license, prepare a clean PDF and complete metadata, and plan how the preprint will be updated and linked when the article is published.
You post the preprint from your own account, as the author. Our work is advisory and preparatory.
Who it’s for and the problems it solves
This is for you if you are…
- Researchers posting a first preprint in physics, mathematics, computer science, economics or the life sciences
- Health researchers who need to meet medRxiv's ethics, consent and competing-interest declarations
- Social scientists and psychologists considering SSRN or a community server such as SocArXiv or PsyArXiv
- Authors whose funder encourages or requires preprints
- Authors unsure whether a ResearchGate upload counts as a preprint or conflicts with their publisher
Common problems we help with
- arXiv asked you for an endorsement and you do not know how to get one
- Your submission was put on hold or reclassified by moderators
- You are worried the journal will treat the preprint as prior publication
- You do not know which license to pick, or whether it will limit where you can publish
- The preprint and the published article have drifted apart and readers are citing the wrong version
- Your manuscript is a review or commentary and you are not sure servers accept that type
What’s included — and what isn’t
Included
- Server selection based on discipline, article type and audience
- Target-journal and funder preprint policy checks, including license and version conditions
- Guidance on arXiv endorsement requirements and category choice
- medRxiv and bioRxiv readiness: required declarations, article-type eligibility and screening considerations
- License selection advice (for example CC BY, CC BY-NC or the server's default license) and its implications
- Manuscript clean-up: title page, author metadata, ORCID iDs, data and code availability statements
- Abstract and keyword polishing for discoverability
- A version plan for updating the preprint and linking it to the published article's DOI
- Advice on sharing responsibly on ResearchGate and institutional repositories alongside a formal preprint
Not included
- Posting to servers under our own accounts or acting as your endorser
- Circumventing moderation decisions or reposting rejected material elsewhere to avoid screening
- Legal advice on copyright; we explain policies and point you to official sources
- Any promise that a server or journal will accept the work
What you receive
- Server and policy memo
- A short recommendation of the server and category, with the target journal's and funder's relevant policy points quoted and linked.
- Submission-ready files
- A clean PDF (and source files where the server requires them), with complete author, affiliation and ORCID metadata.
- Declarations checklist
- For health and life sciences servers, a checklist of required ethics, consent, funding, competing-interest and data statements.
- Version and linking plan
- Instructions for posting revisions, noting the journal reference and DOI once published, and keeping profiles up to date.
How it works
Clarify goals
Why preprint now: priority, feedback, a job or grant application, a funder policy? The answer shapes server choice and timing.
Check policies
We review the target journal's, publisher's and funder's current preprint policies and note any constraints.
Prepare files and metadata
We help finalize the manuscript, declarations, license and descriptive metadata.
You submit
You post from your own account; we help interpret any moderator questions or hold notices.
Maintain
We help you plan updates and link the preprint to the version of record when it appears.
Servers and policies we help you navigate
- arXiv
- Physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology and finance, statistics, electrical engineering and economics. Moderated by category. Under a policy updated in January 2026, new submitters generally need an endorsement from an established author, or an institutional email plus prior arXiv authorship in the area. The CS category also now expects review articles and position papers to have passed peer review first.
- SSRN
- Elsevier's preprint server, strong in economics, law, business and the social sciences, with growing health and science networks. Papers receive a DOI after screening; some Elsevier journals offer an opt-in 'First Look' preprint during review.
- bioRxiv and medRxiv
- Life sciences and health sciences servers run by openRxiv. medRxiv asks for ethics, consent, funding and competing-interest declarations and does not accept types such as narrative reviews, case reports or opinion pieces; both screen for non-scientific content and health risks.
- OSF-hosted community servers
- Discipline servers such as PsyArXiv, SocArXiv, EdArXiv and MetaArXiv remain open. The generalist OSF Preprints server stopped accepting new submissions in 2025, so choose a community server for your field instead.
- Journal and funder policies
- We read the publisher's stated policy and, where useful, cross-check it with aggregators such as Sherpa Romeo, noting license conditions and any request to cite or link the preprint.
- ResearchGate and repositories
- ResearchGate is a social networking platform where you can upload files, not a moderated preprint server. We treat it as a sharing channel and point you to a formal server or your institutional repository for the citable record.
Will a preprint stop my paper being published?
For most journals, no. Major publishers widely accept submissions that were posted as preprints, and some actively integrate with servers. But there are exceptions and conditions: a few journals, particularly in some clinical and social-science fields, restrict preprints or ask that the preprint not be updated to the accepted version, and a license choice can affect later reuse. Always check your target journal's current policy before posting, not after.
arXiv endorsement and moderation, explained
arXiv is not peer reviewed, but it is moderated. Volunteer moderators check that a submission is scholarly, in the right category and appropriately formatted, and may put it on hold or reclassify it. As of 2026, first-time submitters to a category typically need a personal endorsement from an established arXiv author in that area unless they meet the stricter automatic criteria.
We help you choose the category, prepare a submission that meets arXiv's format rules (including source files for LaTeX papers), and understand how to request an endorsement appropriately from a colleague who knows your work. We cannot act as your endorser.
Health research: preprint with care
Because clinical findings can influence behavior before peer review, medRxiv applies extra screening and requires specific declarations, and it labels posts clearly as not peer reviewed. We help you prepare these statements accurately, check that the article type is eligible, and write an abstract that states limitations plainly so the preprint is less likely to be misread by the public or media.
Keeping versions straight
Readers and citation databases sometimes cite a preprint long after the article is published. Posting revised versions, adding the journal reference and DOI to the preprint record, and listing both correctly on your ORCID and Google Scholar profiles reduces confusion and helps citations accrue to the published article.
What the work can look like
Illustrative example — fictional data
Sample server and policy memo
A doctoral researcher in computational economics plans to submit to an economics journal and wants a preprint for job-market applications. The memo is invented to illustrate our format.
Recommended server
Post to SSRN (Economics Research Network) for visibility with economists; optionally cross-list to arXiv econ.EM, which requires endorsement as this would be the author's first arXiv submission in that area.
Journal policy check
Target journal accepts papers previously posted as working papers or preprints; asks authors to note the preprint's DOI on submission. No license restriction stated; CC BY recommended for maximum reuse, but the author prefers the server's default license.
Actions
Add ORCID iDs and a data availability statement; replace a placeholder figure; after acceptance, update SSRN with the journal reference and DOI.
Illustrative example only. Policies change; we check current official pages for your journal and server at the time of your request.
What you’ll need to provide
- The manuscript and supplementary files
- Target journal(s), if known, and any funder requirements
- Author list with affiliations and ORCID iDs
- Ethics approval details, trial registration and data availability information for health research
- Any correspondence from a server's moderators
You don’t need everything ready to ask for a quote — tell us what you have and we’ll say what’s missing.
What affects price and turnaround
Price depends on
- Number of servers and journals whose policies need checking
- Condition of the manuscript and metadata
- Whether LaTeX source preparation for arXiv is required
- Health or clinical research needing declaration review
- Whether abstract editing and a versioning plan are included
Turnaround depends on
- How quickly you can obtain an endorsement or institutional details, if needed
- Completeness of ethics and funding information for health research
- Moderation times at the server, which we do not control
Every project is quoted individually. How we price our work.
Questions people ask before starting
Is uploading to ResearchGate the same as posting a preprint?
Not formally. ResearchGate is a researcher networking site that lets you upload documents, but it is not a moderated preprint server in the sense that arXiv, SSRN, bioRxiv or medRxiv are, and publishers' sharing policies for it can differ. We usually recommend a formal server or repository for the citable version.
Can you endorse me on arXiv?
No. Endorsement must come from an established arXiv author in your area who knows your work, such as a supervisor or collaborator. We can explain the process and help you prepare a strong submission.
Which license should I choose?
It depends on your goals and the journal's policy. CC BY allows the widest reuse and is often required by funders; more restrictive licenses may limit reuse. We explain the trade-offs, but the choice is yours.
Can I post a preprint of a paper under review?
Many journals allow it, and some encourage it. A few do not, and some double-blind venues have specific rules. We check your journal's policy before you post.
Will a preprint get me scooped?
Preprints create a public, time-stamped record, which generally helps establish priority rather than undermining it. The more common risk is posting a version with errors, so we help you prepare it carefully.