The Future is now: Preprints improve scholarly communication

Preprint servers provide some of the greatest Open Access success stories over the past 20 years. They’ve emerged as a valuable tools for researchers in all areas of scholarly writing, especially in fast moving areas of endeavour. Preprints accelerate research communication and thereby academic discoveries. Preprints are a saviour to those in the Global South and other parts of the world where resources are limited. Our guest presenter Benjamin Schwessinger is a biologist and at ARC Future Fellow at ANU. His team is focusing on studying plant pathogenic fungi threatening Australia’s agriculture and iconic fauna. He’s an advocate for open and reproducible academic practices including the wide usage of Preprints. He has deposited more than ten preprints which have now all have been published in classic peer-reviewed journals. Benjamin will provide an overview of the role of preprints in scholarly communication and the many benefits they deliver