ASAPbio Fellows: A community driven approach to changing science communication

The use of preprints in biology has thrived over the past decade. Many groups now regularly share their latest papers on a preprint server with the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the incredible value of preprints as a mechanism to promptly disseminate the latest research findings.

To work toward our mission to make communication in the life sciences more open and transparent, ASAPbio promotes the productive use of preprints. Many researchers do not receive training in scholarly publishing or communication. Additionally, many researchers have become familiarized with preprints by hearing about them from colleagues or by finding a preprint reporting the latest work in their field. These researcher-to-researcher interactions are invaluable to raise awareness about preprints. To foster more of these conversations, ASAPbio started a Fellows program in 2020.

The ASAPbio Fellows drive engagement and adoption of preprints

The ASAPbio Fellows program provides participants with a comprehensive overview of the preprint and preprint review landscape. The program provides opportunities to explore trends, tools and the outlook for preprints in the life sciences while connecting with others interested in preprints and science communication. The program also allows Fellows to help shape and develop ASAPbio strategic initiatives, develop their own preprint based talk or to optionally take forward a project of their choice. 

Community is the heart of ASAPbio, and the Fellows program encapsulates this focus perfectly. In addition to the training that Fellows of previous years have received, in 2024, there was a greater emphasis on embedding Fellows in their local communities as preprint experts. All Fellows were asked to prepare slides and deliver a local talk on preprints. Fellows had full choice over the exact topic, with a variety of topics chosen. Nineteen Fellows successfully delivered a local preprint talk with their slide decks available to all through a Zenodo repository. 

In addition to the local talks, Fellows engaged in optional projects. One project, specifically focussed on the African region, involved a series of webinars to raise awareness of preprints for researchers based in Africa. Over 140 people registered for the webinar series with the Fellows delivering 3 of the 4 sessions. This 4-part webinar series is available on the ASAPbio YouTube channel.

Two Fellows took up the opportunity to produce three podcast episodes; one on the perspective of librarians towards preprints and two on the role of preprints in tenure and promotion. These episodes are available via the Preprints in Motion podcast, and you can listen to the librarian episode here and the tenure and promotion episodes here and here.

Continuing the more creative theme, another group of 2024 Fellows created animated YouTube videos to tackle persistent preprint myths. Despite preprints having been established for over 10 years in the Life Sciences, a number of persistent myths remain. To tackle these myths and build from previous efforts of ASAPbio Fellows, a group of 2024 Fellows produced whiteboard-style animated videos. Fellows chose to tackle myths on preprints being preliminary work and scooping. 

Institutional recognition is a vital step towards greater preprint adoption. Frequently cited as a significant barrier to preprint use by researchers, it is essential that institutions adopt policies that support and reward preprint use. Building on a previous ASAPbio funder’s toolkit, a group of Fellows developed expanded policy wording for a greater number of institutionally-focussed stakeholders. This whitepaper was preprinted and is available on Zenodo. 

These are just some of the 2024 projects that Fellows got involved in. You can learn more about the highly productive 2024 Fellows on the ASAPbio website.

Engage with preprints & open science – Become a 2025 ASAPbio Fellow

Building from the hugely successful 2024 Fellows cohort, this year we will be continuing to offer a wide range of opportunities and support. Our Culture & Community track will run from March-August and include the delivery of local talks, 1 on 1 meetings and small group meetings. The optional projects track will run until May-September and include a variety of projects that are aligned with ASAPbio’s strategic direction. 

The 2025 ASAPbio Fellows program is now open for applications, and we invite all interested in preprints and science communication to apply. There are no restrictions related to geographical location or career stage. We just ask you to bring an interest in preprints and availability to give the program a few hours per month from March to September 2025. 

Interested? Apply to the 2025 Fellows program now! You can learn more about the program in the Fellows handbook, or contact Jonny with any questions (jonny.coates@asapbio.org). Applications will close 10th Feb 2025. 

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