Preprints: Why They Are Important

Research Impact

Preprint servers are not journals and therefore have no impact factor. However, that does not mean that preprints cannot be cited. Preprints are still a useful tool for getting your research seen long before it's published by a traditional publisher, which allows you to generate early interest in your work. The interest generated by the preprint could leverage the amount of attention paid to the final version of your articles when they are available, and thus create more of an impact from your work. 

There have been discussions among traditional publishers and preprint server managers about including a link from the version-of-record (the publisher's version) to the preprint. Some of the larger publishers are now giving authors the option of including a preprint within the publisher's platform when you submit it, which is one more reason to save your preprints.