Describing the landscape of medical education preprints on medRxiv

Abstract

Introduction A preprint is a version of a research manuscript posted to a preprint server prior to peer review. Preprints enable authors to quickly and openly share research, afford opportunities for expedient feedback, and enable immediate listing of research on grant and promotion applications. In medical education, most journals welcome preprints, suggesting they play a role in the field's discourse. Yet, little is known about medical education preprints, including author characteristics, use, and ultimate publication status. This study provides an overview of preprints in medical education in an effort to better understand their role in the field's discourse. Methods The authors queried medRxiv, a preprint repository, to identify preprints categorized as Medical Education and downloaded the related metadata. CrossRef was queried to gather information on preprints later published in journals. Results Between 2019-2022, 204 preprints were classified in medRxiv as Medical Education with most deposited in 2021 (n=76, 37.3%). On average, preprint full-texts were downloaded 1875.2 times, and all were promoted on social media. Preprints were authored, on average, by 5.9 authors. Corresponding authors were based in 41 countries with nearly half (45.6%) in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Almost half (n=101, 49.5%) of preprints became published articles in predominantly peer-reviewed journals. Preprints appeared in 65 peer-reviewed journals with BMC Medical Education (n=9, 8.9%) most represented. Discussion Medical education research is being deposited as preprints, which are promoted, heavily accessed, and subsequently published in peer-reviewed journals, including those specific to medical education. Considering the benefits of preprints and slowness of medical education publishing, it is likely that preprint deposition will increase and preprints will be integrated into the field's discourse. Based on these findings, we propose next steps to facilitate the responsible and effective creation and use of preprints in medical education.