The evolving role of preprints in the dissemination of COVID-19 research and their impact on the science communication landscape

TLDR

The COVID‑19 pandemic has caused over 98 million cases and 2.2 million deaths, prompting a rapid scientific response that produced more than 125 000 articles—over 30 000 hosted on preprint servers—reflecting a cultural shift in how science operates during crises. The study examined bioRxiv and medRxiv to characterize COVID‑19 preprints, their usage, and online propagation. We analyzed preprint attributes, access and usage statistics, and online propagation patterns on bioRxiv and medRxiv. COVID‑19 preprints received higher access, citation, and sharing rates, attracted more journalist and policymaker attention, were shorter and reviewed more quickly, underscoring their unprecedented role in science communication during the pandemic.

Abstract

The world continues to face a life-threatening viral pandemic. The virus underlying the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has caused over 98 million confirmed cases and 2.2 million deaths since January 2020. Although the most recent respiratory viral pandemic swept the globe only a decade ago, the way science operates and responds to current events has experienced a cultural shift in the interim. The scientific community has responded rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing over 125,000 COVID-19–related scientific articles within 10 months of the first confirmed case, of which more than 30,000 were hosted by preprint servers. We focused our analysis on bioRxiv and medRxiv, 2 growing preprint servers for biomedical research, investigating the attributes of COVID-19 preprints, their access and usage rates, as well as characteristics of their propagation on online platforms. Our data provide evidence for increased scientific and public engagement with preprints related to COVID-19 (COVID-19 preprints are accessed more, cited more, and shared more on various online platforms than non-COVID-19 preprints), as well as changes in the use of preprints by journalists and policymakers. We also find evidence for changes in preprinting and publishing behaviour: COVID-19 preprints are shorter and reviewed faster. Our results highlight the unprecedented role of preprints and preprint servers in the dissemination of COVID-19 science and the impact of the pandemic on the scientific communication landscape.