OpenXiv vs Research Square
Research Square covers: All disciplines, with a heavy biomedical and clinical concentration. Last updated 2026-05-20.
Research Square is a commercial preprint platform run by the parent of Springer Nature, often used as the preprint deposit step in the In Review service attached to Springer Nature journals.
| Dimension | OpenXiv | Research Square |
|---|---|---|
| Endorsement gate | None. | None, but identity verification and screening are required. |
| AI policy | Four-level disclosure, per-paper refusal. | Generative AI use must be declared; AI cannot be listed as an author. |
| Federation | AT Protocol. | None. |
| Post-publication review | Typed endorsements. | In Review surfaces peer review status from the linked Springer Nature journal. No independent typed-review vocabulary. |
| Refusal model | Public refusal packet. | Editorial withdrawal at platform discretion. |
| ISSN | Yes, ISSN 3120-9556, registered 2026-05-18 | No site-wide ISSN. |
| DOI | Roadmap. | DOIs minted on posting (Crossref). |
| Default license | CC-BY-4.0. | CC-BY-4.0 default; CC-BY-SA, CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-ND, CC0 also available. |
| Source mandate | Source archive required. | PDF or DOCX accepted. No source mandate. |
| Eligibility | Independent researchers welcome. | Open to all researchers; commercial-platform onboarding includes an identity check. |
Source for the Research Square column: https://www.researchsquare.com. Where a field looks stale, the policy page on the competitor site is the authoritative source.
See also: About OpenXiv, FAQ, Policies, How to submit.