# Publishing strategy guide

**Source**: https://subjectguides.library.unsw.edu.au/publishing/preprints
**Parent**: https://subjectguides.library.unsw.edu.au/publishing/data

A preprint is an early version of an academic research output that is uploaded by the authors to a public server. They have typically not undergone peer review or been accepted for publication by a journal. While some preprint servers provide brief quality-control inspections the research output is made available online quickly and can be openly accessed and reused (according to the terms of the reuse licence). Sharing a research output as a preprint allows authors to directly control the dissemination of their work to a global audience. While common practice in some scientific disciplines, sharing your preprint is becoming more widespread in recent years including in the humanities and social sciences.

Benefits include:

- speeding up discovery and communication
- increased visibility to policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and the public
- increased chances of early feedback and commentary from peers prior to formal peer review
- demonstrating openness and transparency
- evidence of productivity and accomplishment to funders and employers