In Review is a free journal-integrated preprint service offered to authors at participating journals. Authors can opt to have their manuscript automatically posted online in the form of a preprint with a DOI.
How To Participate
Authors have the option to opt in to In Review directly from the submission system of participating journals.
To opt in, all co-authors agree to have their manuscript posted as a preprint with a CC-BY 4.0 license and a DOI, becoming a permanent part of the scholarly record. Read more about our editorial policies here.
Once the submission has been sent out for review by the journal and has passed the Research Square prescreen, the manuscript is converted to HTML and posted on Research Square. It will be marked as part of In Review with the journal name to indicate it is under consideration at a participating journal. If the original manuscript file was uploaded as a PDF, only the abstract will be converted to HTML.
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 these without cause.
Time to posting
Preprints are posted within 72 hours from when the manuscript has passed journal checks.
If the author would like to have their preprint posted before it is under review, they can elect to have it posted without the journal information listed on the preprint. The preprint will be posted within 48 hours from an author selecting this option. Once the journal checks are passed, the journal information will then appear on the preprint.
Peer review status and timeline
Events information that is displayed in the peer review timeline is received through Research Square’s direct integration with the manuscript tracking system of journals that participate in In Review.
Readers may notice that not all In Review preprints have a peer review timeline. Journals can participate in In Review with varying levels of transparency into the peer review process, and some journals opt to not share those details publicly on our preprints.
Preprints can have the public status Under Review, Under Revision, and Published. If the submission is accepted and published by the journal, the preprint will have a link to the published version on the journal website.
If the submission is rejected by the journal, the preprint will remain on Research Square, with the journal branding and peer review timeline removed.
Versions
Authors do not need to send revised versions to Research Square — revisions are obtained directly from the manuscript tracking system and posted to Research Square if the journal allows preprinted versions.
Indexing
Preprints posted through In Review may be indexed in Europe PMC, PubMed Central, Meta, and Researcher. All preprints are archived in Portico, a not-for-profit organization committed to the long-term preservation of scholarly content.
Participating Journals
Authors have the option to opt in to In Review directly from the submission system of participating journals. View all participating journals here.
"Surprisingly, we were contacted by different journals, colleagues and press/media-houses even before the final decision from the journal. My special personal thanks to Research Square for offering such an incredible circulation of our manuscript even before the actual publication."
Pritam Sukul
University Medicine Rostock
More Questions
Does my decision to participate have any impact on the editorial decisions made by the journal?
No. Opting in has no bearing on editorial decisions made by the journal.
How do I know my work won't be stolen?
As soon as your DOI is issued, your work is time stamped and becomes a permanent part of the scholarly record.
How are In Review preprints licensed?
In Review preprints posted on Research Square are published under a CC-BY 4.0 license, meaning the author retains full copyright for their work. Readers are able to reuse the content under the rules of the CC-BY license.
Will the editor take into consideration any comments made on my preprint?
Editors may choose to take comments into consideration. As with traditional peer review, they will rely on reviewers with field expertise to inform their decision.
Will purchasing services from AJE or Research Square impact the editorial decision at the journal?
While many of the services offered at AJE and Research Square will improve the quality of your paper, ultimately whether a service has been purchased will have no bearing on whether your article is accepted. Author transactions with Research Square are confidential and not shared with the editors at journals participating in In Review.
What does it mean when I opt in to In Review?
Opting into In Review means you agree to post your paper as a preprint online. Once posted, it is public, meaning that anyone can read, share, and comment on your manuscript. It will be assigned a DOI and permanently available to view.
Through In Review, you will also be able to track the status of your manuscript via a peer review timeline. You can use any comments you receive to strengthen your paper before it's published.
Please note that opting in to In Review will not influence decisions made by the journal or the likelihood of your manuscript being accepted for publication.
What is the benefit to me as an author?
By using In Review, you can:
- Post your paper as a preprint upon submission to a journal
- Track the status of your manuscript during peer review
- Get early feedback from the community to improve your paper, while also demonstrating that your work is under review at a particular journal
- Invite experts to provide feedback on your work
- Immediately refer others, including funders, to your article (using the preprint's DOI)
- Receive earlier, and possibly, more citations
What is the benefit to the community?
The wider research community can:
- Search for, read, and share preprints in any field in full-text html
- Comment on and collaboratively annotate preprints
- Note which editorial checks the manuscript has undergone
- Gain insight into the peer review status of a particular manuscript
Which journals offer In Review?
What will happen if my paper is ultimately rejected from the journal I submit to?
If your paper is rejected, all information corresponding to the journal will be removed, leaving only the article and any revisions that have been submitted. You are free to send the link to your preprint to other journals as part of a future submission.
Can I post my manuscript on another preprint server as well?
When you post to a preprint server you retain full copyright over your paper and are free to post it in as many places as you like. However, having more than one version in different places reduces the usage counts, dilutes metrics obtained here and on other sites and creates unnecessary redundancy in the scholarly record.
How do I submit my manuscript to In Review?
To submit your manuscript to In Review, you must submit to one of the participating journals. As part of the submission process to the journal, you will be offered the option to opt in to In Review.
How do I submit a revised version of my preprint to In Review?
Revisions must be submitted via the journal's submission system through which you originally submitted your manuscript. In Review only posts versions of your manuscript currently being considered by the journal. Note that not all journals support preprint versioning on In Review.
What checks will my manuscript undergo before it is posted on In Review?
Checks include an assessment of whether a manuscript has the appropriate declarations where necessary (such as ethics approval, consent statements, and competing interests disclosures). All manuscripts will also be checked by Research Square to ensure there is no potential for human harm.
How can I comment on other preprints?
Comments allow the community to provide transparent feedback to authors about their preprint. Comments can include constructive feedback on the methods, conclusions, statistics, impact, or any other aspect of the work. Comments that are deemed to be inappropriate or promotional in nature may be moderated and removed.
Readers can also comment on specific words, sentences, or sections of the text by simply highlighting the text and selecting "annotate" using the hypothes.is annotation tool.
What is Research Square's long-term preservation strategy?
All content on Research Square is permanently archived in Portico, a not-for-profit organization committed to the long-term preservation of scholarly content.