Early-career researchers from preLights launch covidpreprints.com

Cambridge, UK, 27 April 2020 – The Company of Biologists is delighted that a group of early-career researchers in the preLights community have launched a new website, covidpreprints.com, to track landmark coronavirus studies throughout the ongoing pandemic. Confirmed cases and deaths worldwide continue to climb, making the immediate sharing of research critical to scientific progress. Preprints, non-peer reviewed Open Access scientific papers, enable researchers to share their data before journal publication. An increasingly popular method of disseminating research, the number of coronavirus preprints has soared in response to the outbreak.

Such a high volume of science across different platforms has made it difficult to filter out and connect reliable information. “The volume and disparity of information relating to COVID-19 is making it increasingly difficult to understand what information is reliable, trustworthy and important. We have created a central resource to make this job easier,” said Jonathon Coates, a member of the team, preLighter and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge.

The website links to expert reviews from organisations and leaders in the field. Summaries, ongoing online discussions and major events of the pandemic accompany the studies. The team made the decision to include controversial preprints, reasoning that all science informs future directions. A colour coded system highlights preprints, events and important comments or caveats.

“The preLighter team has always been keen to help the scientific community find relevant research, promote preprints and understand the way preprints are changing scholarly communication,” said Máté Pálfy, preLights Community Manager. “The team hope this new project will help scientists, journalists and the public learn about important COVID-19 research and the pace at which new findings are circulated.”

The website is free to access and available to everyone: scientists, the media and the public are invited to use the resource to gain clarity on the rapidly evolving situation. Data collection for the website is live and ongoing. The project team welcomes feedback and community contributions.

###

About preLights

preLights is a community service supported by The Company of Biologists, the not-for-profit publisher of

Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms

and

Biology Open

. The Company of Biologists is also a UK charity, providing grants and other support for the scientific community. Follow preLights on Twitter at

https:/

/

twitter.

com/

preLights

.

For more information contact:

Jonathon Coates

Postdoctoral researcher

University of Cambridge


[email protected]



http://covidpreprints.

com

Máté Pálfy

preLights Community Manager

The Company of Biologists


[email protected]



https:/

/

prelights.

biologists.

com