An SMBE member's request to update our Society's preprint policy

I just submitted this letter:

Dear Editors-in-chiefs and SMBE Council,

As a member of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, I am writing to request that the Society Council and Editors of its journals please consider moving quickly to adopt a preprint-friendly policy at MBE and GBE.

I joined the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution in 2007, just before attending my first SMBE meeting. It was fantastic! A group of grad students piled in a van and took turns driving the 17 hours through beautiful landscapes to beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia. I remember being completely overwhelmed with the quality and quantity of science presented at the meeting.

Since then I have attended most SMBE meetings, co-organized a symposium, helped to publicize those meetings and presentations, and am very excited to have recently published a paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution. I have always been impressed with the the activities of the Society, and plan to continue being an active member throughout my scientific career.

However, as a new investigator, and one who has already submitted to the arXiv, I was surprised to hear, from various sources, that neither MBE nor GBE will consider publishing papers that have been submitted to the arXiv. I thought that surely this cannot be true. Following good scientific procedure, I decided to investigate for myself, going to the source (since nothing regarding prepints currently exists online at the MBE or GBE websites). Yesterday I received this very kind response from Elizabeth Raffaele (emphasis mine):

Dear Melissa 

I had to check this out with the Editor in Chief as I want sure of the answer. 

He has advised that current policy at both MBE and GBE prohibits arXiv distribution prior to publication. New arXiv-friendly policies are under consideration and will be implemented in the near future. So, authors should take a conservative approach for now, and not post it on arXiv. 

I hope this is helpful. 

Best wishes
Elizabeth

I very much appreciate the prompt and careful response (many thanks to Elizabeth). But, as a Society member, and someone who highly values the research published in MBE and GBE, I am completely disappointed with it.

The arXiv is a pre-print server that allows scientists to connect with their peers, share information, and gain critical feedback on manuscripts. I have found that submitting papers to the arXiv is a fantastic way to increase interest in research, share current results, and promote discussion. However, the arXiv is not a peer-reviewed resource. Unlike mathematics and physics, where often the arXiv is the final submission for papers, in Biology, I think the benefits of peer review are unparalleled. The arXiv does not replace peer review. The editors and volunteer reviewers of MBE and GBE provide an invaluable service to the scientific community. I am proud to be part of a Society whose journals are known for publishing high quality research. I can think of no reason that preprints should be excluded from consideration for publication at MBE and GBE. If anything, preprints will allow extra scrutiny, and extra advertisement, for articles that pass peer-review, and are published in MBE or GBE.


I  hope that you will please consider the benefits of allowing submissions to MBE and GBE of articles that have also been uploaded to preprint servers.

Thank you very much for considering this request.

Sincerely,
Melissa

--
Melissa A. Wilson Sayres, PhD
Miller Fellow

University of California, Berkeley

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I just got an update @11:42AM that it is on the Agenda to be discussed at the SMBE Meeting in Chicago. I am very excited (nervous?) to see what is decided.