Some researchers have argued that preprints are no different from other grey literature due to their preliminary existence. It is a direct consequence of our academic culture, where typically only work that has been explicitly peer-reviewed and published in a scholarly journal is usually cited. Another argument is that a preprint might bring confusion in citation when it has been published formally in a journal. Moreover, some authors report that manuscripts are rejected because similarity-check software shows high similarity between submitted and preprint versions.

I think The Winnower has found a nice niche publishing what is called “grey literature.” (i.e. we publish content that is not traditionally afforded a platform).  By focusing on this niche in the in the short term (<5years) we can build a community that will allows us to experiment with different models in the long term (>5Years).  I found out very early after launch of The Winnower—it’s not enough to build a platform around a new model, you have to convey the value to the community and really incentivize people to use it.