October 26, 2021 – Research Square Company is among the first organizations featured in Fast Company’s inaugural Brands that Matter list, which honored 95 companies and nonprofits achieving relevance through cultural impact and the application of their missions and ideals.
Research Square, a division of Research Square Company and whose mission is “to make research communication faster, fairer, and more useful,” made the shortlist of brands for developing an online platform that hosts preprints, which are preliminary drafts of research manuscripts that have not yet undergone peer review.
The Research Square preprint platform was developed so that researchers could publicly post their manuscripts while they undergo peer review for potential publication in academic journals. This allows critical COVID-19 research to reach scholars, clinicians, and interested readers within days – as opposed to the months, or even years, it could take to appear in peer-reviewed journals, many of which can only be accessed by subscription.
“Preprints are an unsung hero of the pandemic,” said Michele Avissar-Whiting, Editor in Chief of Research Square. “Unimpeded sharing of research findings is what allowed scientists to develop effective vaccines, to establish best practices for keeping patients alive in the hospital, and to work out – in real-time – the complex dynamics of infection and transmission. Research Square hosts thousands of pieces containing critical information for the global research community to freely access.”
Tens of thousands of preprints covering research in the plant sciences, animal sciences, social sciences, and humanities are also being uploaded to Research Square during the pandemic, contributing to an overall cultural shift in the way science is communicated.
“Science communication is experiencing a cultural shift accelerated by COVID-19,” said Rachel Burley, President of Research Square Company. “The benefits of sharing early-stage research are clear, and preprints will play a pivotal role in the evolution of research publishing.”
Research Square is now the world’s fastest-growing multidisciplinary platform for preprints, hosting more than 110,000 to date and representing more than 530,000 unique manuscript co-authors.
Fast Company editors judged each brand on relevancy, cultural impact, ingenuity, and business impact in order to compile the list.
View the complete list of Brands that Matter on fastcompany.com, or see it in Fast Company magazine’s print edition, available on newsstands starting November 2, 2021.
About Research Square Research Square, a division of Research Square Company, exists to make research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. Our industry-leading preprint platform, launched in 2018, is a large, author-centric preprint server that brings transparency to the peer-review process. Through our journal-integrated In Review service, innovative author features, manuscript assessments, and research promotion services, we enable researchers to establish the primacy of their work, share it with the broader community, and receive useful feedback much earlier in the publication process. By improving the way science is shared, we accelerate the pace of global discovery and advancement. For more information on our platform and research promotion services, visit researchsquare.com.
About Research Square Company Research Square Company, a five-time INC 5000 award winner, exists to make research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. Through our industry-leading preprint platform, Research Square, research promotion tools, and AJE’s comprehensive suite of manuscript preparation services, we are proud to have supported over 2.5 million authors in 192 countries since our founding in 2004. Across all sides of our business, our team of former researchers and publishing industry professionals truly understand the importance of sharing research results with the world. By helping researchers communicate their work more effectively, we accelerate the pace of global discovery and advancement. For more information on our services and partnership opportunities, visit company.researchsquare.com.
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