TL;DR
This paper provides a historical and sociological overview of arXiv, discussing its evolution, current practices, and the cultural factors influencing preprint adoption, especially in biology, based on a keynote and subsequent reflections.
Contribution
It offers a comprehensive update on arXiv's technical and sociological aspects, highlighting challenges and perspectives relevant to diverse scientific disciplines.
Findings
arXiv's history and evolution summarized
Current practices and challenges in arXiv use discussed
Sociological factors affecting preprint adoption analyzed
Abstract
I give a brief overview of arXiv history, and describe the current state of arXiv practice, both technical and sociological. This commentary originally appeared in the EMBO Journal, 19 Oct 2016. It was intended as an update on comments from the late 1990s regarding use of preprints by biologists (or lack thereof), but may be of interest to practitioners of other disciplines. It is based largely on a keynote presentation I gave to the ASAPbio inaugural meeting in Feb 2016, and responds as well to some follow-up questions.
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