FAST principles for a thriving preprint feedback culture – ASAPbio

"There are many benefits to public feedback on preprints: comments that can help authors improve their work, broader opportunities for early career researchers to participate in review, and additional context for readers. However, we have not yet seen wide engagement in the public review of preprints. This is likely due to cultural barriers: there is a lack of incentives for researchers to participate in preprint review, but there can be risks associated with posting pointed critiques, however constructive, on the paper by another researcher whose favour you may require for a future job or grant.

If we are to foster a positive and thriving environment for public preprint feedback, we need to collectively agree on the norms and behaviors we expect when creating, responding to, and interpreting preprint feedback. This was the remit of the ASAPbio preprint review cultural norms Working Group, which has been developing a set of principles for preprint feedback over the last six months. Following the initial draft shared last July, the Working Group has iterated on the principles based on feedback and has discussed their potential use by different stakeholders in science communication.

We are pleased to now share the FAST principles for preprint feedback. This is a set of 14 principles clustered around four broad themes: Focused, Appropriate, Specific, and Transparent (FAST). Each principle includes a designation for the actors it applies to: authors, reviewers and the community...."