Collaboration: CCSD and COAR Announce Plans to Launch Directory of Preprint Repositories

From a Joint Announcement (via COAR):

The Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe  of France and the Confederation of Open Access Repositories are pleased to announce their formal collaboration to launch a directory of open access preprint repositories.

Preprints are becoming an increasingly important part of the research communications landscape. Posting preprints allows researchers to share their research freely and rapidly with their colleagues and the broader community.  However, the community has no single tool to view the current preprint landscape. Existing registries are either exhaustive and cover all types of repositories or focus on preprints in a single discipline. This directory will bring together all repositories that collect preprints into a single database, enabling users to choose the most suitable platform for their needs and to have an overview of the preprint ecosystem.

The directory will build on the outcomes of a project undertaken by the French Committee for Open Science (Preprints Platforms Project) and supported by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI), which has developed an extensive and detailed catalog of preprint repositories. The current list of preprints documents over 90 preprint repositories along with details about their management, functionalities, and related services and their relation to open science criteria.

As part of the collaboration, COAR will develop a database and user interface with input from the Preprint Platforms Project and the support from MESRI. COAR will host the preprint directory and CCSD will be curating the metadata records ensuring the registry remains up-to-date. The directory will be publicly available for all, and, as much as possible, will align with other related directories, such as OpenDOAR and the ASAPbio list of preprint servers.

The preprint directory will be publicly available in the spring of 2022.

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