Alternatives to Withdrawing Your Preprint

A preprint is a research manuscript that has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, showcasing the early research findings of scholars. While they are not formal publications, they become a permanent part of the scholarly record once posted. This often leads to an important question: can a Preprint be withdrawn?

The short answer is, generally, no. Most Preprint platforms, including Preprints.org, follow a policy stating that Preprints cannot be withdrawn except under specific and serious circumstances [1][2][3][4].

The policy against casual withdrawal after posting is designed to protect the integrity of the scientific ecosystem.

⚙ Here’s why Preprints cannot be withdrawn:

• Maintaining the Academic Record: Once a Preprint is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), it and its associated metadata (title, authors, abstract) are permanently registered with services like CrossRef.
• Protecting Readers and Citations: Researchers may begin citing your Preprint as soon as it appears. Withdrawing it without a serious cause can disrupt their work and break the chain of scholarly citation.
• Upholding Research Integrity: If withdrawals were easy, they could be used to hide errors or misconduct, eroding trust in the Preprint system as a whole.

🧩 Common Concerns and Alternatives

Authors often consider withdrawal due to common concerns about the publishing process. Here are the recommended alternative solutions.

Concern #1: "I'm worried my target journal won't accept a paper that's already a Preprint."

✅ The Solution: check policies and communicate. The majority of journals now accept manuscripts that have been posted as Preprints. We recommend checking your target journal's policy in advance. When you submit, you can write a cover letter to the Editor explaining that the work is available as a Preprint and provide the DOI.

Concern #2: "I found an error or need to add new data to my paper."

✅ The Solution: use versioning. Instead of withdrawing the paper, simply submit an updated version. Most Preprint platforms, including Preprints.org, support version control and will display the latest version to readers by default. This maintains a complete and transparent record of your research progress.

Concern #3: "My paper has been formally published in a peer-reviewed journal. Should I withdraw the Preprint version?"

✅ The Solution: link your preprint to the published article. There is no need to withdraw the Preprint version. Instead, you should link it to the final published version. At Preprints.org, we will display a clear link to the peer-reviewed article and update the citation format to direct readers to the formal publication. This has been shown to increase the visibility and impact of your final paper; one study found that articles with a Preprint receive, on average, 36% more citations [5].

In conclusion, scholars' concerns about Preprints should not be resolved through withdrawal. We encourage researchers to embrace these alternatives and use Preprints as a tool to foster a more transparent, collaborative, and robust scientific community.

References

[1] Withdrawals - arXiv info. (n.d.). https://info.arxiv.org/help/withdraw.html

[2] Frequently asked Questions (FAQ) | BioRXIV. (n.d.). https://www.biorxiv.org/about/FAQ

[3] Preprint withdrawals. (2023, August 15). https://connect.medrxiv.org/news/2023/08/15/preprint_withdrawals

[4] Instructions for authors| Preprints.org. (n.d.). https://www.preprints.org/instructions_for_authors#withdrawal

[5] Fu, D. Y., & Hughey, J. J. (2019). Releasing a preprint is associated with more attention and citations for the peer-reviewed article. eLife, 8. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.52646