Green Tea and Velociraptors

Initial success

It’s been almost 2 months since paleorXiv launched! Since then, 35 papers have been published on the platform. We maintain a database of them all here. We have also created a Code of Conduct and a Diversity Statement, developed with the help of the wider community. These are to help foster paleorXiv as a welcoming community space.

Of these 35 papers, just 8 are actual preprints, and one is the final published version of an Open Access paper. Most, 26, are postprints – the accepted, peer reviewed version of a paper before it undergoes the final transformation. I would like to extend my deepest thanks to all those who have offered their assistance, either by submitting articles, offering feedback and advice, or personal support as this project develops. We could not have got this far without you!

Dean Lomax, Palaeontologist and Visiting Scientist at The University of Manchester, has published many articles now with paleorXiv. He said:

PaleorXiv is free and easy to use. It is a great way for others to notice your research, which results in more people reading your work(s). Thus, learning. It might also generate more citations, although only time will tell.

Top papers to date

Based on the number of downloads, the top publications so far are:

1. Dan Peppe et al – Reconstructing palaeoclimate and paleoecology using fossil leaves (131)
2. Rubiyanto Kapid et al – The Indication of Mid Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO) from Cibulakan Formation, Bogor Basin, Indonesia (113)
3. Dean Lomax and Ben Hyde – Ammonite aptychi from the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) near Whitby, North Yorkshire, UK (105)
4. Robert Boessenecker et al – A toothless dwarf dolphin (Odontoceti: Xenorophidae) points to explosive feeding diversification of modern whales (Neoceti) (91)
5. Stephen Pates et al – Aysheaia prolata from the Utah Wheeler Formation (Drumian, Cambrian) is a frontal appendage of the radiodontan Stanleycaris (85)
6. Jérémy Anquetin – Evolution and palaeoecology of early turtles: a review based on recent discoveries in the Middle Jurassic (85)
7. Jon Tennant and Alfio Chiarenza – How has our knowledge of dinosaur diversity through geologic time changed through research history? (85)
8. Caitlin Syme et al – Depositional environment of the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Albian) Winton Formation at Isisford, Central-West Queensland, Australia, inferred from sandstone concretions (68)
9. Gabriel Ferreira et al – New turtle remains from the Late Cretaceous of Monte Alto-SP, Brazil, including cranial osteology, neuroanatomy and phylogenetic position of a new taxon (66)
10. Jérémy Anquetin – The anatomy of the basal turtle Eileanchelys waldmani from the Middle Jurassic of Isle of Skye, Scotland (66)

We’ll continue to highlight the top articles every couple of weeks, as well as any exceptional performances from within the community. You can join in by submitting here – it takes no time at all!

Continued community engagement

PaleorXiv has been developed based on continuous engagement with the research community. To make things as simple as possible, we designed a set of field-specific submission guidelines for authors. For example, new taxonomic names must be redacted prior to submission, and it is advised for a cover page to be added noting the publication and peer reviewed status of each manuscript.

PaleorXiv also provides a comprehensive database of journal policies to help researchers understand the options available to them for self-archiving. The database includes information on APCs and embargo periods, and can help inform researchers about the optimal routes available to them to make their research Open Access. We like to think that paleorXiv is not just a publishing platform, but also a community resource for learning about some of the intricacies involved with scholarly communication.

Key features of paleorXiv

• It’s free.
• It’s ‘Open Access’ under a CC-BY 4.0 license.
• All articles receive DOIs, and can be assigned final version publication DOIs.
• We use version control for easy file updating.
• Quick: Submission takes around 5 minutes, and articles are published instantaneously.

About

Created with the technical assistance of the open source Center for Open Science, paleorXiv is a community-led platform for research publication. For further reading, please see ‘Welcome to paleorXiv‘, and our launch press release.