Green Tea and Velociraptors

Today, the Center for Open Science issued a press release announcing the launch of 6 new preprint servers, including paleorXiv. To compliment this, here is our own press release (PDF available here).

Press release

We are pleased to announce the launch of a free digital archive for Palaeontology, paleorXiv. Created with the technical assistance of the open source Center for Open Science, paleorXiv is a community-led platform for research publication. On the very first day of launching, paleorXiv published 16 articles.

Preprints are research articles shared publicly in parallel to submission for peer review at a traditional journal. They are helping to transform and shape the rapidly changing scholarly publishing landscape. paleorXiv accepts preprints, as well as those which have already been peer reviewed (postprints), and is therefore compliant with many ‘green’ Open Access policies.

By publicly sharing these early versions of articles, and using a system of version control, paleontologists can help to accelerate the sharing of their research, and get additional feedback from their community.

The platform has been designed based on engagement with the research community, and 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.

Founder, Jon Tennant, said “We are delighted to be working with the Center for Open Science to bring this platform to the global research community. Paleontologists have always been strong advocates for open research practices, and this is exemplified by the support we have had in developing and using paleorXiv.”

PaleorXiv author, Viktor Baranov, said “I choose to publish with paleorXiv since I believe that Paleontology is requiring more openness. Many papers, especially taxonomic ones, are behind paywalls which often present difficulties for younger researchers and researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds.” He continued, “A more selfish reason is, of course, to increase the visibility of my own papers and leverage it career-wise, since taxonomical papers normally do not attract a huge attention, especially when dealing with fossil invertebrates.”

For further information, please contact: Jon Tennant, founder of paleorXiv (jon.tennant.2@gmail.com)