ArticlePLoS biology2017
The prehistory of biology preprints: A forgotten experiment from the 1960s.
Article in PLoS biology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed.
- Why Euglenozoans.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz celebrates 115 years of scientific publishing: what it needs to keep moving on….Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2024Article
- Full publication of preprint articles in prevention research: an analysis of publication proportions and results consistency.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Current concerns on journal article with preprint: Korean Journal of Internal Medicine perspectives.The Korean journal of internal medicine · 2023Review
- Current concerns on journal article with preprint: Anesthesia and Pain Medicine perspectives.Anesthesia and pain medicine · 2023Review
- The rise of preprints in earth sciences.F1000Research · 2023Article
- A guide to preprinting for early-career researchers.Biology open · 2022Article
- Publication and Impact of Preprints Included in the First 100 Editions of the CDC COVID-19 Science Update: Content Analysis.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2022Article
- Examining linguistic shifts between preprints and publications.PLoS biology · 2022Article
- Motivations, concerns and selection biases when posting preprints: A survey of bioRxiv authors.PloS one · 2022Article
- Publishing of COVID-19 preprints in peer-reviewed journals, preprinting trends, public discussion and quality issues.Scientometrics · 2022Article
- Preprinting is positively associated with early career researcher status in ecology and evolution.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Development, implementation and impact of a new preprint solicitation process atProceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- [Challenges for science journalism in the Corona pandemic-some observations about a mediated world event].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2021Review
- Comparing quality of reporting between preprints and peer-reviewed articles in the biomedical literature.Research integrity and peer review · 2020Article
- When science goes viral: The research response during three months of the COVID-19 outbreak.Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie · 2020Article
- Technical and social issues influencing the adoption of preprints in the life sciences.PLoS genetics · 2020Review
- Rxivist.org: Sorting biology preprints using social media and readership metrics.PLoS biology · 2019Article
- Article
- Preprints and Scholarly Communication: Adoption, Practices, Drivers and Barriers.F1000Research · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In 1961, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began to circulate biological preprints in a forgotten experiment called the Information Exchange Groups (IEGs). This system eventually attracted over 3,600 participants and saw the production of over 2,500 different documents, but by 1967, it was effectively shut down following the refusal of journals to accept articles that had been circulated as preprints. This article charts the rise and fall of the IEGs and explores the parallels with the 1990s and the biomedical preprint movement of today.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.