It is increasingly common for researchers to post their articles online on a community preprint server ahead of – or at the same time as – submission to a journal. This can be a great opportunity for editors to identify potential new content and invite researchers to submit to their journal. However, the number of preprint servers has more than tripled in the last three years which, depending on the field, can make it challenging for an editor to keep up with preprints relevant to their journal.

To reduce the need for editors to search through long lists of articles across multiple preprint servers, Wiley has developed a new tool which automatically mines servers for relevant articles. Preprint Alerter uses machine learning to find new preprints that fit the topical scope of a journal, a task that could be tedious and time-consuming for editors.

Preprint Alerter mines over 100 preprint servers every day to find newly deposited manuscripts. Using machine learning, it finds Wiley journals that match the particular subject discipline and alerts the editors with details of relevant preprints and links to access them. Editors can then choose to reach out to the authors via the contact details listed on the preprint.

The mining process runs autonomously requiring no external input or guidance from humans. Editors can, however, help improve the service through feedback links embedded in the alert emails.

Preprint Alerter was built by Wiley’s Intelligent Solutions team, who work to solve publishing problems with data science solutions. Combining hands-on experience as journal editors with cutting-edge data science techniques and cloud technology, the team provides strategic insights and tools to help editors and journal publishing teams meet their objectives and make better decisions faster. Further editor tools will be announced here as they are launched.

How do I subscribe to Preprint Alerter?

The tool is available to editors of journals published by Wiley; if you would like to take advantage of this service please contact your Wiley Journal Manager.

What is Wiley’s policy on preprints? What is my journal’s policy?

Wiley believes journals should allow for the submission of manuscripts which have already been made available on a preprint server. There are some journals published by Wiley that have different preprint policies – to remind yourself of the preprint policy your journal follows, you can use Wiley’s Author Compliance Tool. If your journal does not currently accept submissions of papers shared on a preprint server and you would like to, please reach out to your Wiley Journal Manager to discuss.