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Does publication speed impact research quality? It doesn’t have to. Here, Yousuf Al-Mousawi, Senior Editorial Assistant at F1000, explores how we can uphold research integrity while still accelerating the pace of research and discovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic fueled a dramatic increase in research shared through preprints: draft versions of full papers that are often then submitted to journals for peer review and publication. More than 30,000 of the COVID-19 articles published in 2020 were preprints, some of which were more speculation than science.

While the rise of preprints has brought several advantages— faster dissemination of findings, greater accessibility, and increased transparency—preprints also pose challenges.

Is research integrity and quality compromised when the need for speed takes center stage?

What is research integrity?

Research integrity is all about aligning research activities with ethical principles and responsible research practice. This allows other researchers (and society more widely) to have trust in your findings.

Selecting appropriate data collection methods and reporting results accurately are just two examples of practices that help to maintain research integrity. Moreover, researchers must adhere to various ethical standards—for example, the kind and fair treatment of all test subjects and the environment. Finally, research integrity also requires transparency and open communication by declaring conflicts of interest, which could increase the likelihood of bias.

How often is research integrity compromised?

In 2021, the Netherlands’ National Survey on Research Integrity (NSRI) reported that around 8% of researchers have committed research misconduct. 51.3% admitted to frequently engaging in at least 1 questionable research practice.

Examples of research misconduct include fabrication of data, improper reporting of results, and violation of regulations involving the care of animals and human subjects. Not adhering to such research integrity standards can lead to low-quality research reaching both academic and general audiences.

The problem with preprints

The logic behind preprints is simple: results from scientific research become available to broader audiences faster.

On many occasions, preprints have helped the research community act quickly on emerging phenomena and diseases. For instance, sharing the SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequence and data on clinical management was useful in the early days of the pandemic. However, there have also been many questionable preprints. Poor quality, preprint research that hasn’t undergone peer review can lead to the spread of misinformation and confusion among research communities.

So, how can we balance making research more readily available while upholding research integrity? This is where the F1000 model comes in…

Putting open peer review to work

Our publishing model combines the speed of a pre-print server with an unwavering focus on quality to ensure academic rigor. At F1000Research, open peer review takes place immediately after publication. Unlike preprint servers which serve as a repository for unreviewed draft papers, F1000Research coordinates an invited, formal peer review process for every article published on the platform.

Often preprint articles go on to be submitted to journals for peer review and publication. However, this often takes many months, and (depending on the publication venue) peer reviewer reports may remain behind closed doors.

Transparency every step of the way

Research outputs are permanently published on F1000Research with a DOI. Since peer review starts immediately, F1000Research articles are not preprints and cannot be submitted to other journals regardless of the peer review outcome.

We ask reviewers to assess the article’s scientific quality and comment on its strengths and weaknesses. The title of every article published on F1000Research includes one of four possible approval statuses:

• Awaiting peer review
• Approved
• Approved with reservations
• Not Approved

The approval status determines whether an article meets the quality standards to pass peer review and be indexed in bibliographic databases such as PubMed and Scopus. Plus, all peer review reports (including the reviewer’s name and affiliations) are published alongside the article for anyone to read.

Checks on research integrity and quality

In addition to open post-publication peer review,  all submissions undergo a series of comprehensive checks before publication on F1000Research. These checks are designed to ensure that research published on the Platform meets our basic requirements around authorship, ethics, and data.

Our in-house editorial team carefully review all submission  to ensure that each article:

• Is (co-)authored by a qualified researcher or clinician
• Does not contain any instances of plagiarism
• Complies with all ethical guidelines concerning the research
• Makes clear any potential conflicts of interest
• Complies with our open data guidelines and policies
• Contains adequate protocol information to make the data useful

At F1000, we believe researchers shouldn’t have to choose between speed and quality. With rigorous pre-publication checks and open post-publication peer review, researchers can publish their findings rapidly without compromising research integrity.

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