About eiRxiv.org

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Historically, science students only receive recognition through activities such as science fairs. However, with over 10 million United States students participating in science fairs each year, it is estimated that only 5% of the US population is receiving recognition for their work, feedback, questions and inquiries about how to improve their science (Hill, 2017). Moreover, evidence has shown that the location and availability of science fairs differs drastically based on geography (Grinnell, 2023). The disenfranchisement of rural people in science and research propagates a cultural divide between rural America and the scientific community (O'Neal, 2021). Providing an opportunity for students to share their scientific research broadly, freely, and transparently will help bridge the opportunity-gap that rural and other disadvantaged communities face. Our current work with the Journal of Emerging Investigators has shown that publication is an avenue that students are eager to use to share their research and engage with the scientific community. As science communication practices evolve, these advances should be (and can be) brought to the younger populations. There is a general understanding that rapid and transparent dissemination leads to rapid evaluation and this typically improves pace and quality of research (Stevens, 2017). According to the chart below of Biomedical preprints per month (through June 2020), there has been an explosion in use of preprint servers with the medical and science fields. In fact, a recent survey from e-Life shows that transparency and communication is the number one priority to improve research communication and culture in biology and medicine. While these factors are important to the professional level science community, the pre-college science community is lagging behind. Providing the experience of publishing their work to thousands or tens of thousands of students allows for many opportunities to receive feedback. Moreover, teaching secondary students about the value and importance of scientific preprint services, and allowing them to publish their findings on one specifically designed for their age and grade, will truly change the communication, transparency and accessibility of science for youth. 

This is the path of the future for scientific dissemination, and students shouldn’t be left out of important scientific advances. Our proposed preprint server will bring professional scientific practices to the students, unveiling the inner workings of the scientific enterprise and engaging them in an authentic practice that will connect them to the scientific community and help build their science literacy. And unlike other preprint servers, we will be dedicated to providing transparent, publicly available, peer-review of each article, which we have shown to be impactful on student outcomes. The preprint server will continue to be maintained by JEI indefinitely to allow students to submit their work, receive feedback and consider the option to publish. Following the initial launch, JEI will have minimal costs for long-term sustainability but will continue to seek grants, contributions and support to maintain this important resources for students.