How to cite bioRxiv in a reference list is straightforward once you know the rule: cite the preprint’s DOI, not a URL alone, mark it explicitly as unreviewed, and — if the content you consulted may differ from the current version — reference the specific version number. bioRxiv preprints receive a DOI (prefix 10.1101/) on posting and are, in the platform’s own words, “citable and part of the scientific record”, but they are not equivalent to a peer-reviewed journal article and most style guides require a disclaimer to say so.
A preprint is a complete but not-yet-peer-reviewed manuscript posted to an open server — bioRxiv for biology, medRxiv for health sciences — so that findings can be shared, discussed and built upon before formal journal certification. This guide sets out the exact APA and Vancouver formats, how to handle multiple versions, journal-specific quirks, and how to configure EndNote and Zotero so the “not peer reviewed” flag survives into your final manuscript.
- What counts as a citable bioRxiv or medRxiv preprint?
- How do you cite bioRxiv in APA style?
- How do you cite bioRxiv in Vancouver style?
- How do you cite a specific preprint version?
- How do you handle bioRxiv and medRxiv in EndNote and Zotero?
- Frequently asked questions
- What this means for authors, editors and institutions
What counts as a citable bioRxiv or medRxiv preprint?
Every manuscript accepted onto bioRxiv or medRxiv is assigned a DOI at the point of posting, and, per bioRxiv’s own FAQ, “preprints deposited in bioRxiv should be cited using their digital object identifier (DOI)”. The platform is explicit that manuscripts “cannot be removed” once posted, because the DOI is indexed by Crossref, Google Scholar, Europe PMC and the Preprint Citation Index in Web of Science — meaning the preprint is a permanent, citable object regardless of whether it is later published in a journal.
DOI structure changed part-way through bioRxiv’s history: DOIs assigned before 11 December 2019 use a short six-digit suffix (e.g. 10.1101/123456), while DOIs assigned from that date onward use a longer, date-based suffix (e.g. 10.1101/2023.07.03.123456). medRxiv, co-managed with bioRxiv by the non-profit openRxiv, uses the same 10.1101/ DOI prefix. Neither platform has an Impact Factor, because neither is a journal.
How do you cite bioRxiv in APA style?
APA 7th edition treats a preprint as an informally published work, so the citation must name the repository and flag the manuscript’s status in square brackets. There is no separate APA “preprint” reference category — you build it from the general work template.
| Element | APA 7th edition rule |
|---|---|
| Author | Surname, Initials — as listed on the preprint |
| Year | Year of posting, in parentheses |
| Title | Italicised, sentence case |
| Status flag | [Preprint] in square brackets after the title |
| Source | Repository name (bioRxiv or medRxiv) |
| Locator | https://doi.org/10.1101/... |
Worked example, adapted from bioRxiv’s official citation model:
Author, A. N., & Author, B. T. (2013). My article title [Preprint]. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.11.123456
In-text citation follows the standard author-date form: (Author & Author, 2013). Do not cite the preprint’s landing-page URL in place of the DOI — the DOI is the stable, version-agnostic locator that Crossref and journal reference-checkers expect.
How do you cite bioRxiv in Vancouver style?
Vancouver style, the dominant convention in biomedical journals, follows National Library of Medicine (NLM) guidance for citing preprints, which explicitly reserves a field for the version number and a bracketed “[Preprint]” tag immediately after the title.
Author FM, Author SM. Title of preprint. Version 2. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Jul 3 [cited 2026 Jul 3]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.03.123456
In-text citation is numeric, in order of first appearance in the text — for example (1) or a superscript ¹. Journals that follow ICMJE’s Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work permit preprints in the reference list on the same condition APA and NLM apply: the entry must make unambiguous that the work has not been peer-reviewed.
How do you cite a specific preprint version?
Unlike a journal article, a preprint can be revised multiple times under one unchanging DOI. If the substance of your citation depends on data, figures or conclusions that changed between versions, cite the version you actually used, not just the DOI.
- bioRxiv’s own convention: append the version-specific URL — e.g.
doi: 10.1101/2019.12.11.123456 version 2, https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2019.12.11.123456v2. - APA: add
(Version 2)after the title, before the[Preprint]tag. - Vancouver/NLM: insert
Version 2.as its own sentence element between the title and the repository name. - New manuscript vs revision: a genuine revision keeps the same DOI; a substantially different follow-up manuscript is assigned a new DOI and must be treated as a separate reference.
If a preprint has since been formally published, cite the published version of record wherever possible — bioRxiv automatically links the published article to the preprint page within roughly two weeks of publication, and most journals require you to switch the citation once that link exists.
How do you handle bioRxiv and medRxiv in EndNote and Zotero?
Reference managers diverge sharply on preprint support, which is the step most researchers get wrong even after they have the correct written format.
Zotero has offered a dedicated Preprint item type since 2019, with discrete fields for Repository, DOI and Archive ID — importing a bioRxiv record via its DOI or the browser connector populates these automatically, and the “not peer reviewed” status is preserved in the item type itself rather than relying on free text.
EndNote has no equivalent native preprint type in most current libraries. The practical workaround is:
- Create the reference as Unpublished Work or Journal Article, whichever your output style maps most cleanly to a preprint field set.
- Enter “bioRxiv” or “medRxiv” as the publisher/journal field, and paste the full DOI (not the landing-page URL) into the DOI field.
- Add “Preprint, not peer reviewed” to the Notes or Type of Work field so it survives into any custom output style you build.
- If you cite a specific version, record it in the Edition or Notes field, since EndNote has no dedicated version field for preprints.
Whichever manager you use, verify the exported reference against the APA or Vancouver template above before submission — auto-generated preprint references are the most common source of missing DOIs and dropped “[Preprint]” tags in manuscript reference lists.
Frequently asked questions
Is it okay to cite bioRxiv?
Yes. bioRxiv states that manuscripts posted to the server “receive DOIs and thus are citable and part of the scientific record.” Citing is acceptable across most disciplines and funders, provided the reference clearly discloses that the work is a preprint and has not completed peer review.
Does bioRxiv have a DOI?
Yes. Every preprint deposited on bioRxiv is assigned a DOI under the 10.1101/ prefix at the point of posting, and this DOI remains stable across revisions of the same manuscript, resolving by default to the latest version.
Is bioRxiv considered published?
No. bioRxiv preprints are not formally “published” in the peer-reviewed sense — they have not been certified, edited or typeset by a journal. They are nonetheless a permanent, indexed part of the scientific record and cannot be withdrawn from the server once posted, only marked as withdrawn.
Can I cite a preprint in my paper?
Yes, in most journals and grant applications. Guidance aligned with ICMJE recommendations and publisher policy (e.g. Springer Nature) requires the reference to carry a “[Preprint]” note, the DOI, and standard bibliographic details, so readers cannot mistake it for a peer-reviewed source.
What this means for authors, editors and institutions
Funders have moved from tolerating preprint citation to actively encouraging it: the US National Institutes of Health states that it “encourages investigators to use interim research products, such as preprints, to speed the dissemination and enhance the rigor of their work,” and NIH-funded preprints are indexed directly in PubMed. That policy signal, combined with Crossref and Europe PMC indexing, means a correctly formatted preprint citation is no longer a stylistic afterthought — it is a discoverability and compliance requirement.
Research offices, editors and reference-management teams should standardise on three checks before submission: the DOI (not a bare URL) is present, the cited version matches the version consulted, and the “[Preprint]” disclaimer appears in the visible reference text, not only in a database field. As preprint volume grows, these checks keep a reference list accurate and consistent with the style guide a target journal enforces.
