Today, Preprints.org marks its 10th anniversary, celebrating ten years since the first article was posted on the preprint server. Over the past decade, it has become a vibrant hub for preprints, enabling scientists worldwide to share discoveries, access knowledge freely, and engage in meaningful dialogue across disciplines.

Reflecting on this journey, Alistair Freeland, Chief Operating Officer of MDPI and one of the first members of the Preprints.org team, highlighted that MDPI recognized the importance of early-stage research sharing long before Preprints.org was launched, and worked over many years to make this vision a reality. He emphasized that early sharing improves rigor by exposing ideas to scrutiny sooner, allows others to build, correct, and extend work, and is designed to complement journals rather than replace them.

A decade of growth and impact

Since its launch in May 2016, Preprints.org has hosted over 120,000 research works, serving more than 400,000 researchers worldwide. The platform has generated 25 million views and 97 million downloads, demonstrating its significant role in enabling early access to scientific knowledge and fostering collaboration across fields. (Data updated as of April 2026)

A major milestone came in 2023, when Preprints.org was indexed in the Web of Science Preprint Citation Index, confirming that preprints have become an integral part of the scholarly record. In a healthy open science ecosystem, researchers share results when they are ready to be read, feedback occurs early when it can still improve the work, and access is not limited by geography or institutional resources.

Supporting research integrity

As the platform has grown, so has its responsibility to uphold research quality and trust. Dr. Ioana Craciun, Scientific Advisor for Preprints.org, emphasized that research integrity is central to the value of preprints. She noted that Preprints.org has established a robust screening process, along with clear and transparent guidelines, to ensure that submissions meet appropriate standards.

These measures are continuously refined to support responsible research sharing, helping ensure that the speed of dissemination does not come at the expense of rigor or trust.

Celebrating the benefits of Preprints

Preprints.org has become a vital tool for researchers, offering numerous benefits:

• Establishing priority for discoveries and ideas;
• Rapid dissemination of work to a global audience;
• Enhanced visibility and citations for authors;
• Early feedback from peers to improve research;
• Faster flow of scientific information, fostering collaboration and innovation;
• Supporting cross-disciplinary engagement.

These advantages underscore the mission of preprints: to accelerate scientific advancement while promoting openness and community engagement.

Beyond these benefits, Preprints.org also supports practical workflow integration with MDPI journals. Authors can choose to have a submission to an MDPI journal simultaneously posted as a preprint, or transfer a preprint from Preprints.org to an MDPI journal with a single click, ensuring that submission information is synchronized and the process remains streamlined. This integration helps researchers share their work early without additional administrative steps.

Join the 10th anniversary celebrations

To mark its 10th anniversary, Preprints.org is hosting a series of community-focused activities. The #MyMostMemorablePreprint campaign invites researchers to share the stories behind the preprints that shaped their academic journeys.

The 2025 Preprints.org Annual Report, to be released in May, will provide insights into recent developments and community growth.

In parallel, the Popular Preprints of the Decade Award will recognize 110 preprints across 11 subject areas, with winners selected through community voting later this year. Researchers and readers are encouraged to participate and follow updates via the anniversary hub.

MDPI’s commitment to open science

The success of Preprints.org is rooted in MDPI’s long-standing dedication to open access and open science. By providing a platform that prioritizes accessibility, transparency, and collaboration, MDPI ensures that research is shared widely and equitably. Preprints.org reflects MDPI’s broader mission to foster scientific exchange across disciplines by supporting open access, timely dissemination, and high-quality research services.

Looking forward

As we celebrate ten years of Preprints.org, MDPI looks forward to continuing to support researchers in publishing early, sharing widely, and collaborating openly. The next decade promises further innovations in how science is communicated, evaluated, and applied—ensuring that knowledge continues to flow faster, more openly, and more inclusively than ever before.

Preprints.org is not just a platform—it is a community, a catalyst for collaboration, and a cornerstone of MDPI’s vision for the future of open research. Here’s to another decade of empowering science, one preprint at a time.