Q. Where can I store my preprints?

Preprints (also known as Author's Original Manuscripts AOM) are early versions of research papers that have not yet been peer-reviewed.

Most publishers are happy to accept publicly available preprints for possible publication in a journal or book. Most also allow submitted manuscripts to be shared on preprint servers. First, however, it's worth checking your Publishers' preprint sharing policies, usually provided on the publisher's website and found on Jisc's open policy finder deposit register.​

Preprints are usually shared on dedicated preprint servers, and the best option might be a discipline-specific preprint server. For example, see Wikipedia's list of academic preprint repositories.

A quality preprint server includes:

• Minting unique DOIs for uploads.
• Version tracking for revised versions.
• Supports an author's choice of licence, e.g., Creative Commons licences.
• Ability to link the final published versions when available.

To register a preprint on one of these servers, you typically will need to follow some basic steps, e.g.,

• Create an account.
• Upload your preprint manuscript (not peer-reviewed).
• Provide metadata such as title, date, authors, etc.
• Attach any supplementary material.
• Assign a copyright licence, e.g., Creative Commons licence.