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Will research preprints improve healthcare for patients?

BMJ 2018; 362 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k3628 (Published 24 September 2018) Cite this as: BMJ 2018;362:k3628

Opinion

Sharing science at today’s pace: an experience with preprints

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Re: Will research preprints improve healthcare for patients?

Catherine Otto expresses the ideal situation. Regrettably, inclusion of shoddy research, given a veneer of respectability by inadequate refereeing, provides unreliable reassurance on the quality of the investigations. Careful evaluation of already published articles is a laborious business. Statistical and logical flaws are not uncommon in any search of literature on topics of interest. "Caveat emptor" seems to apply to both preprints and peer reviewed articles. If the journal publishers were to be exposed to opprobrium of one sort or another for permitting inadequate refereeing, better quality control might ensue.

Competing interests: No competing interests

05 October 2018
R Michael Sherratt
Consultant Physician and Neurophysiologist formerly Research Fellow Neurosciences
Luton & Dunstable Hospital LU4 0DZ
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