The full title of this case study is 'From Gatekeeping to Openness: Using pre-prints to start conversations, get feedback and engage with timely research topics in Management research'.

Summary

Unlike some STEM fields, journal timelines in the management field can often take years from submission to publication, meaning that timely work on interdisciplinary topics is often lagging behind other fields. We made the decision to share a PDF version of our manuscript using PsyArXiv’s pre-printing server before the paper went out to peer review at our target journal to allow us to share the work in progress and get feedback whilst the topic is still relevant and timely.

Context

Our research was investigating qualitatively how residents in a neighbourhood use smart home security devices with camera capabilities e.g., security cameras or video doorbells to understand the social norms and beliefs that underpin the different use cases of these devices. This allowed us to better understand how these norms and beliefs lead to different privacy and security outcomes e.g., some neighbours gaining security vs. others losing privacy. We decided to specifically focus on a neighbourhood as much of the literature to date in the privacy/security space has focused on individuals or households, which ignored the effect these devices are having on other people who are not necessarily the predominant users.

We submitted this finished paper to a relevant journal, however, we were disheartened by the time lag between submission and publication, with current average wait times being close to two years according to the journal’s official metrics. As much of the work in the privacy and security space tends to move very quickly due to its interdisciplinary nature, this meant the focus of our paper is likely to be out of date in the next two years, at least for researchers from other disciplines.

Reflections

One of the main concerns we had related to potentially affecting the double-blind peer review process for the submitted manuscript. To overcome this, we made sure to double check the specific journal’s pre-printing policy before sharing it publicly, and also disclosing to the journal’s editor that the manuscript had been pre-printed and disclosing where it can be found.

As not all colleagues will be familiar with pre-printing vs. peer reviewed publications, we were careful to stipulate in any discussions or publications of the research online that this is a pre-print/work in progress that is still awaiting peer review with the target journal.

For practical guidance, we used the Open Science Framework website and their official guidance to pre-print using their platform (connected to PsyArXiv’s server). For this manuscript, we also shared all supplementary materials within the ‘project’ page on the OSF so that readers could get more background information on our methods and approach.

One of the key benefits of sharing the work as a pre-print has been the ability to share relevant and timely work (with the caveat that it is still awaiting peer review) to solicit feedback and thoughts from others working in the field which might be helpful and complementary to the official peer review and aid us in future revisions of the manuscript.

From a PhD student’s perspective - it is also helpful to be able to share with future employers before going out on the job market.

Take home message

Pre-printing can be a great way to start conversations, get feedback and engage with the latest literature in your field, but it is important to remember that the work is yet to be peer reviewed hence its findings should be taken with a pinch of salt.

About the author

Associated with the Bath Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour, Johnny’s research generally contributes to the discourse on responsible innovation and adoption of smart home security technology, advocating for technological developments that are equitable and respectful of all people’s rights and well-being. His PhD project critically examines the privacy and security implications of smart home technology adoption and use at a neighbourhood level. Johnny’s work is part of the wider ESRC-funded Discribe Hub + research programme, which investigates the adoption of security technology.

Links

• Copy of the published pre-print: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/g9dpt