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> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
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# Can I get scooped if I post a preprint?

### Q. Can I get scooped if I post a preprint?
### A. No! 

Preprinting is actually a great mechanism for ensuring a record of priority.

Preprints on Authorea are registered with a DOI - a digital object identifier - which is a way to register your idea, your work and your precedence with a timestamp in the scholarly record, in a public manner. In this sense, **publicity is better than secrecy**. "With a nonpublic publication process, it is hard for authors to prove originality during this period if nothing about the work is registered in the public domain." [1] By contrast, by preprinting and formally registering your work in the scholarly record, you ensure precedence and originality of your idea, making scooping hard and easy to dispute.

[1] You can read more about this in [Ten simple rules to consider regarding preprint submission
](https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005473)