Should Preprints Count in Scientist Rankings?

A preprint can communicate findings before journal peer review and enable useful feedback. Its presence online does not establish that a conventional peer-review process has finished or that its conclusions will remain unchanged.

A manuscript may exist as a preprint, accepted manuscript and journal article. Counting each automatically as an independent research contribution can inflate productivity. Records should preserve distinct versions while connecting them to the underlying project.

Some services capture citations to preprints while others do not. If a final article changes results or a notice is issued, the platform should make the relationship and version dates clear so readers know which findings they are seeing.

A ranking should disclose which work types are eligible and how versions are deduplicated. Researchers should link preprints responsibly and update profiles when the version of record becomes available.