Research Square is a multidisciplinary preprint server that posts research in all scientific areas, including physical, biomedical, and social sciences.
We currently accept the following content types:
Manuscripts reporting negative results are included. We do not accept literature reviews, hypotheses, opinions, theories, or commentaries.
Most journals allow posting of a preprint to sites like Research Square before publication in the journal. A list of journal policies can be found on Wikipedia here and on SHERPA/RoMEO here.
We accept the following file formats: doc, docx, RTF, Tex/LaTeX.
If you need help with writing in English you should consider:
We strongly encourage authors to make the data on which the conclusions of their manuscript rely publicly available. For an index of relevant data repositories, see Fairsharing.org. We recommend authors include a Data Availability statement, documenting where the data can be found.
Data availability statements can take one of the following forms (or a combination of more than one if required for multiple datasets):
Research Square does not conduct peer review on preprints prior to posting. Content submitted to Research Square is checked for appropriate ethics and consent statements; disclosure of competing interests; absence of patient identifiers; and inappropriate, alarming, highly controversial, or pseudoscientific claims. A submission that has already been published at a journal will not be posted as a preprint. Preprints that are posted to the platform as part of the In Review service display the set of checks that have been carried out by the journal. They will include any checks the journal performs in addition to the above-mentioned Research Square checks. These checks are displayed in the “prescreen” badge. Checks at Research Square are carried out by our trained editorial staff. Our policies currently do not preclude posting submissions whose titles match those of preprints posted to other servers. For more on our position on preprint duplicates, see here.
Once received, submissions undergo our screening checks and are posted within 24-48 business hours. Preprints received through the In Review service first undergo a quality check at the journal. Once the quality check is complete, Research Square will begin processing the manuscript for posting as a preprint.
Preprints posted on Research Square receive a DOI, making them a citable part of the scientific record. They are widely indexed by indexers such as Crossref and Google Scholar, giving them a permanent digital presence. Once preprints receive a DOI, we cannot remove them from the platform without cause.
At times, we may choose to withdraw a preprint due to issues that cannot clearly be addressed by submitting a revised version of the preprint. Authors or readers may request the withdrawal of a preprint from the platform by emailing [email protected]. If a preprint is withdrawn, a new version is posted that explains why the author has chosen to withdraw their preprint. Any previous versions of the preprint remain available.
In very rare circumstances, we may decide that a preprint needs to be removed from the site altogether. In these cases, the preprint is replaced with text indicating that the preprint has been removed. Wherever possible, the title and author list will persist.
Preprints at Research Square are indexed through Crossref, Europe PMC, Google Scholar, Researcher, and Meta. PubMed Central indexes a limited subset of preprints.
If we make a decision not to post a manuscript to the platform due to concerns identified at the screening step described in section 5, that decision cannot be appealed.
Commenters are required to provide a name and email address.
Comments that are flagged for moderation should only be removed if they contain offensive or inappropriate content. Comments written in a disrespectful manner may also be removed.
Preprints are held in an archive run by Portico, who will post the full Research Square content repository in the event of the site ceasing to exist. This ensures permanence of all content posted to the platform.
All preprints on the platform are published under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. For more guidance on licensing, please see the Preprint Licensing Information Page at ASAPbio.
Pursuant to our Terms of Service, authors agree not to submit content that
Regarding the inclusion of geographical maps in any media provided as part of a preprint submission, Research Square remains neutral concerning jurisdictional claims implied by the depiction of frontiers or boundaries displayed in maps.
Please cite preprints on Research Square using the following format:
Martina Bientzle, Ulrike Cress, Joachim Kimmerle. Development of domain-specific epistemological beliefs of physiotherapists: A longitudinal study, 22 October 2019, PREPRINT (Version 3) available at Research Square [+https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.2.9685/v3]
Because preprints are posted before they have undergone expert scrutiny, they should not be considered conclusive, valid, or suitable for dissemination as established information or used to guide clinical practice. As with journal articles, readers should use their judgement or seek expert opinion themselves before using the information to inform their own research, writing, or behavior. Additional guidance for reporters seeking to cover preprints can be found here.