ABSTRACT
Librarians are strong collaborators. As we move toward the "next normal,” partnerships and collaboration will play an even larger role. In our post-pandemic world, what does "open” mean in terms of access to libraries, their staff, and their services? National libraries, for example, are still, to some extent, fixed in space in physical terms, despite having grown their digital offer before and considerably during the COVID-19 period. Through partnerships with public and academic libraries, the British Library has begun to improve access to its content and events. The library community now has an opportunity to build on experience and to think differently and collaboratively about what openness means in terms of spaces, content, and staff support for our communities in a hybrid digital and physical world—ensuring the enduring "why” and the transforming "how” of libraries in the 21st century. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Objective: Use of preprint servers by academics has accelerated during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, but whether their use by industry has increased over this period is unclear. We compared the use of medRxiv for the dissemination of COVID versus non- COVID research, focussing on industry-sponsored studies. Research design and methods: Using the search function in medRxiv (https://www.medrxiv.org/), we determined the total numbers of preprints mentioning 'COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2' (COVID) and all others (non-COVID) deposited between 1 January and 30 September 2020. We then manually screened all COVID and non-COVID preprints deposited during a peak-activity week (24-31 May) to determine subject area, study type, author affiliations and funding source. Results: As of 30 September, 7449 COVID and 3335 non-COVID preprints had been deposited on medRxiv, including 404 and 129, respectively, over 24-31 May. The top two subject areas represented by COVID preprints were 'Infectious disease' (35.1%) and 'Epidemiology' (27.7%). Non-COVID preprints were deposited under a range of subject areas, most frequently 'Epidemiology' (10.9%) and 'Neurology' (8.5%). The highest proportion of preprints (COVID, 32.7%;non-COVID, 38.0%) described observational research (32.4%) and modelling studies (12.4%). Ten (2.5%) COVID preprints acknowledged commercial funding, versus 6 (4.7%) non-COVID. Industry authors were listed on 9 (90%) and 5 (83%) of these, respectively. While half of industry-sponsored non-COVID preprints described observational research, those on COVID covered a range of study types, including artificial intelligence, diagnostics, modelling, and observational research. Conclusions: Although the use of medRxiv has accelerated during the pandemic, utilization by industry has remained low. Further research is needed to identify potential barriers to the industry embracing preprint servers.