Among numerous measures announced to drive efficiency and restore public confidence in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agency’s director, Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, proposed increasing the use of preprint research to ensure actionable new findings and data are available more quickly, instead of delaying until research has undergone a lengthy peer review process, reports the Associated Press.
According to Vikram Savkar, SVP and General Manager of Wolters Kluwer, for years, the medical community has called for technology to help transform medical publishing, but the delays faced by the CDC during the COVID pandemic particularly highlighted the urgency to have tools available that support this transformation in a rigorous way. Walensky's announcement has the potential to increase the uptake of preprints within the research community.
Through preprints, authors can immediately disseminate their research in an open access setting. This can increase the accessibility of their findings and accelerate the translation of research to practice. This move by Walensky reflects the CDC’s commitment to moving ahead and adapting with changes in medicine. Of course, preprints also carry risks; velocity of publication must be accompanied by an increase in critical evaluation by readers. But properly managed, preprints should position the global medical community to better meet the challenges of future pandemics, and Walensky's comments represent a crucial waystation on the journey to improvement.
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