NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTEUpdate (March 27): The NIH on Friday (March 24) announced that “interim research products,” including preprints, “can be cited anywhere other research products are cited” in agency grant applications and reports. In addition to instructing users how to cite preprints and other non-peer reviewed publications assigned digital object identifiers (DOIs), the NIH also issued guidance for selecting where to post such reports. “NIH has never restricted the materials that can be cited in the reference section of a research plan,” the agency noted in its announcement. –The Scientist staff
The UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC) this week (January 3) announced that it will accept manuscripts published on preprint servers prior to peer review in biomedical research grant applications. “This is not a major policy change. What we’re doing now is making it clear that applicants can submit preprints, and that we actively encourage it,” said Tony Peatfield, director of corporate affairs at MRC.
“There are certain potential advantages to preprints,” Peatfield continued. One is, “you can get your research findings out in the public domain more quickly. This may be of particular benefit to younger researchers.” Preprints, he said, enable scientists “to show their achievements, up to that time.”
Meanwhile, in the U.S., stakeholders continue to debate whether preprints belong in biomedical research grant ...
