- MedRxiv, a preprint server, can be used to track and minimize the spread of misinformation
- About 40% of COVID-19 articles were first published to preprint servers 
- The majority of preprints on COVID-19 included incomplete and controversial data that were rapidly reviewed and then published
- Discussions and critiques about COVID-19 on social media platforms and preprint servers seem counterintuitive, but they can foster conversations and exchange of ideas 
- On Twitter and Sina Weibo, preprints that received a fair amount of criticism were withdrawn, but there is no way of knowing whether more are left undisturbed 

Proliferation of papers and preprints during the COVID-19 pandemic

- Researchers studied papers on COVID-19 that were retracted/withdrawn to determine whether there are specific reasons why they were taken down by using the keyword “withdrawn” to search for retracted papers on preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv on August 25, 2020. 1,357 and 171 results were located on each server respectively. Researchers then switched to the keyword “withdrawn covid” and obtained 27 and 83 search results on each server. 
- It was concluded that preprints were often given special treatment compared to peer-reviewed papers because a large proportion of retracted COVID-19 preprints were not reasonably labeled and explained, and some even disappeared altogether. 

Silently withdrawn or retracted preprints related to Covid-19 are a scholarly threat and a potential public health risk

- "Proliferation of papers and preprints during the COVID-19 pandemic"
- "Silently withdrawn or retracted preprints related to Covid-19 are a scholarly threat and a potential public health risk"

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Preprints, unlike traditionally peer-reviewed papers, do not need to undergo careful scrutiny and are thus able to be published and uploaded to servers much more efficiently. During the initial COVID-19 outbreak, many researchers uploaded their findings on preprint servers for others to study and reference, despite containing quite some false information. Since then, preprints have become a major source of the spread of misinformation regarding COVID-19 due to countless new papers that have cited preprints that are now retracted, withdrawn, or have completely disappeared. 

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