The Story behind the Science: Preprints of pandemic potential-how bioRxiv and medRxiv brought preprints to the life sciences

Sever, Richard (January 2026) The Story behind the Science: Preprints of pandemic potential-how bioRxiv and medRxiv brought preprints to the life sciences. mBio. e0298925. ISSN 2150-7511

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Abstract

The bioRxiv and medRxiv preprint servers brought preprinting to the life sciences and played a critical role in disseminating COVID research during the pandemic. Here, I reflect on the birth of bioRxiv and medRxiv and the crucial role so many members of the community played, our experience during the pandemic, and the launch of the new non-profit organization set up to oversee the servers. The pandemic was a stress test for bioRxiv and medRxiv that demonstrated their value and robustness. Under the umbrella of openRxiv, they are now poised to become long-term infrastructure underpinning a new publishing ecosystem.

Item Type:	Paper
Subjects:	history
CSHL Authors:	Sever, Richard
SWORD Depositor:	CSHL Elements
Depositing User:	CSHL Elements
Date:	12 January 2026
Date Deposited:	14 Jan 2026 14:14
Last Modified:	14 Jan 2026 14:14
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/42067

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