Awareness and Perception of Preprints in the Scholarly Community: A Study on India and the SAARC Region

Abstract

Abstract A survey of 356 respondents was conducted in April and May 2020 to collect their views and experiences with publications and preprints. Most respondents were from India and were in the field of agricultural science. The survey found that "Journal's Impact Factor" was considered the most important factor when choosing a suitable journal for publication. Most respondents had paid Article Processing Charges (APCs) for their publications, with funding coming from various sources such as project funds, institutional support, and personal funds. Respondents expressed trust in preprints and preferred to use institutional repositories as their preprint platform. The main drivers for sharing preprints were increased indexing, citation and visibility, and the inclusion of preprints in the assessment. Most respondents never cited preprints and reported that their pre-prints had never been cited. Additionally, most respondents reported never editing or withdrawing their pre-prints.