The for-profit publisher announces that pre-prints on one of its subsidiaries, SSRN, are now cited on another of its subsidiaries, database Scopus

“This development comes in reaction to feedback and requests from the researcher community, as demand for and use of preprints has jumped in recent year”.

Apparently, there is an 148 per cent increase in researchers publishing preprints on SRN over five years, with fastest growth in medical science and economics.

There’s also a bit in the announcement somebody should have told the Australian Research Council before it introduced (its now-ended) ban on citing pre-prints in grant applications (CMM August 20 and umpteen subsequent stories). “As evidence of how important they are becoming, preprints are increasingly included in formal evaluation processes for grant proposals and faculty reviews,” Elsevier states.