Predecessors of preprint servers

Although there was an early experiment in the 1960s with the central distribution of paper preprints in the biomedical sciences, these sciences have not been early adopters of electronic preprint servers. Some barriers to the development of a ‘preprint culture’ in the biomedical sciences are described. Multiple factors that, from the 1960s, fostered the transition from a paper‐based preprint culture in high energy physics to an electronic one are also described. A new revolution in scientific publishing, in which journals come to be regarded as an overlay on electronic preprint databases, will probably overtake some areas of research much more quickly than others.