Covid-19 accelerated the media’s reporting on early, drafty scientific research (for better and for worse)

‘More than 25% of Covid-19 preprints have featured in at least one news article, researchers found, and almost 100% of Covid-19 preprints were tweeted about at least twice...

‘Since the first reported case of Covid-19, cities across the world have shut down, people have stopped socializing and going to work, economies have taken a hit and there have been far too many deaths. But at the same time the scientific community has come together and produced an immense amount of knowledge on the virus, developing multiple vaccines in less than a year.

‘This has been possible because scientists have rapidly shared their research on Covid-19, and preprints — scientific papers that haven’t been formally reviewed — have proved essential in this effort. In a new piece of research, my colleagues and I found that the pandemic has resulted in scientists increasing the use of preprints to release findings, and that these papers are also being read more frequently.

‘This has also produced a cultural shift in how preprints are used and viewed by society. The media and the public are now far more likely to encounter and discuss preprints and their findings on a daily basis.’

Read here (Nieman Lab, Apr 29, 2021)

How swamped preprint servers are blocking bad coronavirus research

‘Howard Bauchner, the editor-in-chief of JAMA, notes that low-quality submissions are rising. Journals in the JAMA Network have received 53% more submissions in the first quarter of this year than in the same period in 2019. “Many of these are related to COVID-19, but most are of low quality,” Bauchner says.

‘To address the need for rapid review, a group of publishers and scholarly-communication organizations announced an initiative last month to accelerate the publication of COVID-19 papers using measures such as asking people with relevant expertise to join a list of rapid reviewers. The initiative’s members include Outbreak Science Rapid PREreview, a platform where researchers can request or provide swift reviews of outbreak-related preprints.’

Read here (Nature, May 7, 2020)