Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
ibiology.org/science-and-society/preprint
Jessica Polka, Executive Director of ASAPbio, talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired a surge in the use of preprints to share research rapidly and how this is changing perceptions of peer review.
As the COVID-19 pandemic escalated in the beginning of 2020, there was a need for the rapid dissemination of scientific information to understand everything from how the virus spreads, to how it affects the human body, to how the disease can be treated and prevented. Jessica Polka, Executive Director of ASAPbio, explains that, for this reason, the pandemic has inspired an increasing number of scientists to post their research papers on preprint servers. Publishing papers in traditional journals with formal peer review can take a lot of time. Posting manuscripts on preprint servers, on the other hand, can happen quite fast. But, considering that preprints do not undergo formal peer review before they are posted, is this prudent? Dr. Polka talks about how preprints experience their own crowd-sourced, informal peer review process through public commentary on social media and other venues by scientists and other experts, and this discourse can actually improve the quality of the paper over time. A major caveat of preprints is the potential for the media and the public, who may not be aware of the provisional nature of preprints, to disseminate erroneous or inaccurate information, and so, this requires proper education and training on what preprints are and how to interpret them.
0:00 Intro - The pandemic and the need for fast scientific information
1:19 The role of preprints
2:58 Benefits of preprints
3:43 The role of social media
4:47 Downsides to preprints
6:20 Changes in the dissemination of scientific results
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Jessica Polka is the Executive Director of ASAPbio, a non-profit organization that works to address the efficiency by which scientists share their results by promoting innovation and transparency in life sciences communication. As part of her advocacy work, Polka served as president of the board of directors of Future of Research, and is a member of the Rescuing Biomedical Research. Polka completed her PhD in Biochemistry from UCSF (2012), and her postdoctoral training in the department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School (2013-2016).
Credits:
Elliot Kirschner (Wonder Collaborative): Executive Producer
Shannon Behrman (iBiology): Executive Producer
Rosa Veguilla (iBiology): Producer
Rebecca Ellsworth: Editor
Eric Kornblum (iBiology): Editor, Videographer
Chris George: Design and Graphics
Maggie Hubbard: Design and Graphics
ibiology.org/science-and-society/preprint
Jessica Polka, Executive Director of ASAPbio, talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired a surge in the use of preprints to share research rapidly and how this is changing perceptions of peer review.
As the COVID-19 pandemic escalated in the beginning of 2020, there was a need for the rapid dissemination of scientific information to understand everything from how the virus spreads, to how it affects the human body, to how the disease can be treated and prevented. Jessica Polka, Executive Director of ASAPbio, explains that, for this reason, the pandemic has inspired an increasing number of scientists to post their research papers on preprint servers. Publishing papers in traditional journals with formal peer review can take a lot of time. Posting manuscripts on preprint servers, on the other hand, can happen quite fast. But, considering that preprints do not undergo formal peer review before they are posted, is this prudent? Dr. Polka talks about how preprints experience their own crowd-sourced, informal peer review process through public commentary on social media and other venues by scientists and other experts, and this discourse can actually improve the quality of the paper over time. A major caveat of preprints is the potential for the media and the public, who may not be aware of the provisional nature of preprints, to disseminate erroneous or inaccurate information, and so, this requires proper education and training on what preprints are and how to interpret them.
0:00 Intro - The pandemic and the need for fast scientific information
1:19 The role of preprints
2:58 Benefits of preprints
3:43 The role of social media
4:47 Downsides to preprints
6:20 Changes in the dissemination of scientific results
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Jessica Polka is the Executive Director of ASAPbio, a non-profit organization that works to address the efficiency by which scientists share their results by promoting innovation and transparency in life sciences communication. As part of her advocacy work, Polka served as president of the board of directors of Future of Research, and is a member of the Rescuing Biomedical Research. Polka completed her PhD in Biochemistry from UCSF (2012), and her postdoctoral training in the department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School (2013-2016).
Credits:
Elliot Kirschner (Wonder Collaborative): Executive Producer
Shannon Behrman (iBiology): Executive Producer
Rosa Veguilla (iBiology): Producer
Rebecca Ellsworth: Editor
Eric Kornblum (iBiology): Editor, Videographer
Chris George: Design and Graphics
Maggie Hubbard: Design and Graphics
