FAQ

What are preprints?
What is engrXiv?
How do you pronounce engrXiv?
What is open access?
What is a “preprint”, “postprint”, or “eprint”?
What is engrXiv's relationship with arXiv?
What can I post to engrXiv?
Can I post non-English articles?
What about other research materials?
What licenses are available?
Does this specific journal allow me to share preprints in engrXiv?
Does Google Scholar index engrXiv?
Do papers that are upload to engrXiv receive a Digital Object Identifier?
Can I add comments on a preprint?
Can I withdraw my preprint?
What are the benefits of using engrXiv?
What is the legal status of engrXiv?
How can we be sure that engrXiv will remain independent?
How can I support engrXiv?

What are preprints?

If you're brand new to preprints? Check out this introductory video from ASAPBio.

What is engrXiv?

engrXiv, the eprint server for engineering, is a project of the nonprofit Open Engineering Inc. engrXiv provides a free and publicly accessible platform for engineers and engineering researchers to upload working papers, pre-prints, published papers, data, and code. engrXiv is dedicated to open dissemination of engineering knowledge, to reach more people more effectively, to improve research, and build the future of scholarly communication. Since the development of engrXiv was first announced in July 2016, we have been dedicated to building the premier rapid dissemination tool for engineering.

How do you pronounce engrXiv?

Short answer, "engineering archive." Want to know more, we've written a little about the name here.

What is open access?

Historically, academic journal articles are published behind “paywalls,” which means only those who have a subscription (often through their university library) or the ability to pay can access and read them. Open access refers to the practice of making academic research publicly available for free, which means more people can access and read it.

What is a “preprint”, “postprint”, or “eprint”?

A preprint is generally considered to be “a manuscript draft that has not yet been subject to formal peer review, distributed to receive early feedback on research from peers” (Source: Open Research Glossary). Some people also refer to this as an “unrefereed preprint.” By another definition, “preprint” includes papers that have been accepted for publication in a scholarly journal, but not yet been “printed” (on paper or electronically). For example, when journals post accepted papers that have not yet been “published,” these may be called preprints as well. A “postprint” is another name that is sometimes used for article in this state. At engrXiv, we sometimes use the term “eprint” to collectively refer to both preprints and postprints.

What is engrXiv's relationship with arXiv?

ArXiv is a trademark of Cornell University, used under license. This license should not be understood to indicate endorsement of content on engrXiv by Cornell University or ArXiv. engrXiv operates independently and has no relationship with ArXiv.

What can I post to engrXiv?

We host academic research at a number of stages in the research process:

Working papers: Any draft of a paper that is ready to share with interested parties, but has not yet been peer reviewed. If you are sharing your work with a group of colleagues, a conference, or a journal, this may be the perfect time to widen the circle and post it on engrXiv.
Preprints: Most people use this term to refer to completed papers that have not yet been peer reviewed (like working papers). However, by some definitions this includes versions of a paper that have been peer reviewed but are not yet published by a journal. However you define preprints, engrXiv will host them.
Postprints: After a paper has been published by a journal, this is a version that you elect to share on our open platform. It may be a version that does not include the journal’s formatting or other changes, or it may be the publisher’s copy (or “version of record”) if you have the right to distribute it. This is the version you share when you’ve published something but it’s behind a paywall and you want anyone to be able to read it.

Can I post non-English articles?

engrXiv is happy to accept non-English articles. We would request that you post with an English title and abstract. If you need assistance with producing an English title and abstract, please email info@engrxiv.org and we will do our best to help with translation. You might also consider adding an English version of the article on the paper's project page (see Other Materials), if available. To that end, authors for articles where the primary language is English are also encouraged to upload non-English versions to the paper's project page.

What about other research materials?

Every paper on engrXiv can be easily associated with additional materials. Researchers can attach data, code, or other research materials to their papers by including them as links associated with the eprint. We also encourage sharing data and code in the spirit of openness and transparency. These other materials could also include article versions in other languages or a simplified version for greater public consumption.

What licenses are available?

When you upload your article, by default it is assigned a CC BY Attribution 4.0 International license. This is an open license. For more information about licenses, see further info from Creative Commons.

Most publishers do permit sharing of preprint versions. And most journals will let you submit a working paper that has previously been posted. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) explicitly permits authors to post their papers in non-peer reviewed repositories, as long as IEEE is acknowledged as the copyright holder upon publication in an IEEE journal. You can check a specific journal by looking at their website or try Sherpa Romeo, which is a database of publisher copyright and self-archiving policies.

Does Google Scholar index engrXiv?

Yes, as of April 2017 Google Scholar is successfully ingesting and linking to engrXiv papers (and other papers on the OSF Preprints server).

Note that if you observe that Google Scholar doesn't seem to be indexing your paper, please check the following:

Authors must have fullnames on the papers. Authors with only one name - e.g. "Julie" --- won't be indexed
Author names must be properly capitalized --- lowercase names, e.g. "pat smith" --- may not be indexed
Does the paper correspond to an archival article already in Google Scholar? If yes, new versions for archival articles are added during full index rebuilds which happen twice a year.

Please note that it can take up to a few weeks for Google Scholar to index a new post. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes it is slow. Unfortunately, we don't have much control over the process.

Do papers that are upload to engrXiv receive a Digital Object Identifier?

Yes! All engrXiv papers are automatically assigned a DOI upon submission. In addition, if a paper has a DOI from a different publisher, such as the journal, that information can be included when uploading to engrXiv, which will allow the preprint to link to the latest published version. Further, if you later publish a paper that is on engrXiv with a journal, you can update the preprint with the journal's assigned DOI. In fact, many publishers require this.

Can I add comments on a preprint?

Yes! We have integrated with the annotation service Hypothesis which uses the W3C web annotation standard to providing commenting and highlighting capabilities directly with the preprint preview for all preprints. Annotations made using Hypothesis are licensed CC0. For more information on annotating preprints, see this help document.

Can I withdraw my preprint?

Please see the server guidelines.

What are the benefits of using engrXiv?

Stable, permanent URL to use in your CV, professional portfolio, citations, etc.
Download statistics
Getting your work out faster than traditional publishing
One place to store many outputs and materials for each project
Promote open dissemination of engineering knowledge by supporting open access, open source, public goods research infrastructure.

What is the legal status of engrXiv?

engrXiv as a web platform is hosted on Open Preprints systems by the Public Knowledge Project. As a legal entity, engrXiv is administered by Open Engineering Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization under the direction of Devin Berg. The engrXiv Steering Committee is actively involved in an advisory role, and volunteer working groups provide additional assistance.

How can we be sure that engrXiv will remain independent?

engrXiv does not own your papers and anyone can always continue to give them away for free, which means that the service does not have much monetary value to a private entity.

How can I support engrXiv?

We are so glad you asked! The easiest way to support engrXiv is to help us spread the word. Use the service and encourage your friends to use it. If you meant financially, we can accept individual one-time or recurring donations. If you represent a foundation or other grant giving agency interested in partnering with us, please get in touch with engrXiv Director Devin Berg at info@engrxiv.org.

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