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A new finds that about half of media stories in early 2020 featuring COVID-19 鈥減reprint鈥� research鈥攔esearch that has not yet been peer-reviewed鈥攁ccurately framed the studies as being preprints or unverified research. 

大象传媒 PhD student Alice Fleerackers, a researcher in the Scholarly Communications Lab, and publishing program professor Juan Pablo Alperin collaborated with an international team of researchers to analyze more than 500 mentions in over 450 stories from digital news outlets covering preprint COVID-19 research. The study was

Their analysis is based on 100 COVID-19 preprints posted on top-ranked preprint servers medRxiv and bioRxiv from January 1 to April 30, 2020.

鈥淲e found that it wasn鈥檛 just newer, less 鈥榯raditional鈥� media outlets, like Medium or Yahoo! News that did not accurately identify the research as preprint or preliminary,鈥� Fleerackers says. 鈥淓ven established publications like The New York Times and The Guardian did not consistently describe the preprints they covered as unreviewed.鈥�

The media鈥檚 coverage of COVID-19 preprints may in part be a reflection of larger pressures facing the scientific community. 鈥淭he urgency of the pandemic required researchers and journalists to sacrifice the assurances of peer review for more rapid publication,鈥� Alperin explains. 鈥淛ust as researchers are adjusting to the new way of rapidly communicating among each other, so too are journalists figuring out how that greater uncertainty needs to be conveyed to the public.鈥�

Fleerackers notes that coverage of preprint research can be helpful to the public. For example, sharing findings about promising prevention strategies as early as possible can save lives. But it can also undermine the public鈥檚 trust in the media if a preprint is mischaracterized as widely accepted science but the findings are later discredited. 

鈥淲e saw this with a couple of  published at the beginning of the pandemic, for example, which linked tobacco to COVID-19 prevention,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭hese studies were highly flawed, but they got a ton of media coverage鈥攕parking unnecessary panic and even encouraging some people to pick up smoking.鈥�

The early months of the pandemic offered few examples of best practices to turn to and the science continued to evolve, rapidly changing what was known about the virus and how the public could best protect themselves from becoming infected. Fleerackers adds that reporters covering coronavirus often had little or no expertise in health and science.

鈥淛ournalists have not had an easy year. All things considered, I鈥檓 impressed with what they鈥檝e been able to accomplish despite the odds,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd overall, audiences seem to be responding well. Many countries saw a during the early stages of the pandemic, and trust in journalism has been high.鈥�

Fleerackers joins a host of experts who will be giving an online talk on the topic, for the January 14 event - #PreprintsInThePublicEye: Challenges and Solutions in an Age of Misinformation.

AVAILABLE 大象传媒 EXPERTS

ALICE FLEERACKERS, PhD student & researcher, Scholarly Communications Lab | afleerac@sfu.ca 

JUAN PABLO ALPERIN, assistant professor, Publishing & co-director, Scholarly Communications Lab | jalperin@sfu.ca

CONTACT

MELISSA SHAW, 大象传媒 Communications & Marketing 
236.880.3297 | melissa_shaw@sfu.ca

大象传媒 
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As Canada鈥檚 engaged university, 大象传媒 works with communities, organizations and partners to create, share and embrace knowledge that improves life and generates real change. We deliver a world-class education with lifelong value that shapes change-makers, visionaries and problem-solvers. We connect research and innovation to entrepreneurship and industry to deliver sustainable, relevant solutions to today鈥檚 problems. With campuses in British Columbia鈥檚 three largest cities鈥擵ancouver, Burnaby and Surrey鈥敶笙蟠� has eight faculties that deliver 193 undergraduate degree programs and 127 graduate degree programs to more than 37,000 students. The university now boasts more than 165,000 alumni residing in 143 countries.