Multiple bioRxiv preprints link to the same journal publication

[dhimmel]

As part of this project, we're working with the Rxivist database of bioRxiv preprints. We've extracted a portion of this database and stored it in the file data/01.preprints.tsv.

Based on this dataset, it looks like there are 28 journal articles that are linked to by multiple bioRxiv preprints. In other words, bioRxiv sometimes thinks multiple preprints have been published in the same journal article.

The Python code

import pandas
url = 'https://github.com/greenelab/greenblack/raw/8f4502d5f62064dd483fbec18d21e5e31c35dc03/data/01.preprints.tsv'
preprint_df = pandas.read_csv(url, sep='\t').dropna()
# bioRxiv preprints with duplicated journal publications
duplicate_df = preprint_df[preprint_df.journal_doi.duplicated(keep=False)].sort_values(['journal_doi', 'preprint_doi'])
duplicate_df.to_csv('duplicated.tsv', sep='\t', index=False)
duplicate_df.journal_doi.nunique()

Here's the output table:

rxivist_preprint_id	preprint_date	preprint_doi	journal_date	journal_doi
9880	2017-06-27	10.1101/156331	2017-11-24	10.1007/s00401-017-1789-4
9828	2017-07-18	10.1101/165373	2017-11-24	10.1007/s00401-017-1789-4
16018	2016-12-07	10.1101/092221	2017-10-13	10.1007/s12559-017-9518-9
4696	2017-01-02	10.1101/097675	2017-10-13	10.1007/s12559-017-9518-9
10702	2014-09-04	10.1101/008755	2015-04-17	10.1016/j.ajhg.2015.03.004
10428	2016-04-05	10.1101/046995	2015-04-17	10.1016/j.ajhg.2015.03.004
20822	2017-05-12	10.1101/137190	2018-05-21	10.1016/j.cognition.2018.04.017
20709	2017-12-11	10.1101/231837	2018-05-21	10.1016/j.cognition.2018.04.017
30027	2015-10-14	10.1101/029066	2017-10-30	10.1038/s41598-017-14523-5
29724	2017-05-17	10.1101/138784	2017-10-30	10.1038/s41598-017-14523-5
10577	2015-09-08	10.1101/026278	2017-02-23	10.1038/srep43054
26249	2015-12-08	10.1101/033944	2017-02-23	10.1038/srep43054
10256	2016-09-30	10.1101/078360	2017-05-05	10.1073/pnas.1704442114
10029	2017-04-03	10.1101/122218	2017-05-05	10.1073/pnas.1704442114
20878	2016-10-07	10.1101/079699	2017-12-04	10.1080/01480545.2017.1405971
20857	2017-01-12	10.1101/099952	2017-12-04	10.1080/01480545.2017.1405971
28398	2016-11-23	10.1101/085795	2017-01-06	10.1093/jxb/erw488
28406	2016-11-16	10.1101/088153	2017-01-06	10.1093/jxb/erw488
26406	2015-07-07	10.1101/022061	2016-04-27	10.1098/rsob.160009
8583	2015-09-18	10.1101/027151	2016-04-27	10.1098/rsob.160009
9475	2017-03-20	10.1101/118729	2018-02-15	10.1101/gr.230433.117
10042	2017-03-21	10.1101/119016	2018-02-15	10.1101/gr.230433.117
26141	2016-03-24	10.1101/045369	2016-09-19	10.1111/jeb.12972
25961	2016-08-18	10.1101/070318	2016-09-19	10.1111/jeb.12972
17987	2018-03-28	10.1101/290866	2018-05-17	10.1152/japplphysiol.00012.2018
17938	2018-05-16	10.1101/324020	2018-05-17	10.1152/japplphysiol.00012.2018
25942	2016-08-30	10.1101/070003	2017-03-29	10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005375
25731	2017-01-27	10.1101/103739	2017-03-29	10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005375
20939	2014-11-29	10.1101/011908	2015-03-25	10.1371/journal.pone.0119337
18271	2014-12-26	10.1101/013268	2015-03-25	10.1371/journal.pone.0119337
3791	2017-10-10	10.1101/201251	2018-04-26	10.1371/journal.pone.0196135
3785	2017-10-19	10.1101/205542	2018-04-26	10.1371/journal.pone.0196135
9091	2018-05-09	10.1101/317891	2018-07-31	10.1371/journal.pone.0197699
8894	2018-07-09	10.1101/365130	2018-07-31	10.1371/journal.pone.0197699
12107	2017-02-14	10.1101/108639	2017-11-30	10.1523/jneurosci.1724-17.2017
14821	2017-06-30	10.1101/157628	2017-11-30	10.1523/jneurosci.1724-17.2017
10615	2015-06-07	10.1101/020529	2015-09-10	10.1534/g3.115.021659
26423	2015-06-12	10.1101/020826	2015-09-10	10.1534/g3.115.021659
10483	2016-02-03	10.1101/038729	2016-07-29	10.1534/genetics.116.187369
10155	2017-01-09	10.1101/098095	2016-07-29	10.1534/genetics.116.187369
26064	2016-05-26	10.1101/055517	2017-03-17	10.1534/genetics.116.196303
25909	2016-09-28	10.1101/078279	2017-03-17	10.1534/genetics.116.196303
10215	2016-11-17	10.1101/088260	2017-05-26	10.1534/genetics.116.198424
10213	2016-11-17	10.1101/088385	2017-05-26	10.1534/genetics.116.198424
7850	2017-04-03	10.1101/123554	2017-11-02	10.3390/e19110584
7427	2017-05-22	10.1101/140913	2017-11-02	10.3390/e19110584
22979	2017-03-31	10.1101/122580	2017-10-18	10.7554/elife.27356
23938	2017-04-08	10.1101/125765	2017-10-18	10.7554/elife.27356
22956	2017-04-19	10.1101/128595	2017-12-14	10.7554/elife.27827
19859	2017-11-01	10.1101/212274	2017-12-14	10.7554/elife.27827
9875	2017-04-24	10.1101/130054	2017-07-17	10.7554/elife.28069
9997	2017-04-28	10.1101/131995	2017-07-17	10.7554/elife.28069
16093	2016-11-03	10.1101/085548	2018-01-08	10.7554/elife.28927
4204	2017-06-28	10.1101/157263	2018-01-08	10.7554/elife.28927
11378	2017-04-07	10.1101/125419	2018-10-16	10.7554/elife.34870
11082	2018-01-25	10.1101/253872	2018-10-16	10.7554/elife.34870

[cgreene]

I spot checked a couple:

10483	2016-02-03	10.1101/038729	2016-07-29	10.1534/genetics.116.187369
10155	2017-01-09	10.1101/098095	2016-07-29	10.1534/genetics.116.187369
26064	2016-05-26	10.1101/055517	2017-03-17	10.1534/genetics.116.196303
25909	2016-09-28	10.1101/078279	2017-03-17	10.1534/genetics.116.196303

Looks like it might be folks uploading revisions...

[dhimmel]

I can envision a situation where multiple preprints end up being published in the same journal article. For example, perhaps two preprints were combined into a single work that was then published in a journal. Or as @cgreene mentions:

Looks like it might be folks uploading revisions...

I've gone through a few more:

• https://doi.org/10.1101/156331 and https://doi.org/10.1101/165373 both are marked as now published in https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-017-1789-4. I am not sure about this one.

• https://doi.org/10.1101/008755 and https://doi.org/10.1101/046995 both published in https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2015.03.004. I am not sure about this one.

• https://doi.org/10.1101/125419 and https://doi.org/10.1101/253872
  both published in https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.3487. Looks like revisions.

• https://doi.org/10.1101/122580 and https://doi.org/10.1101/125765 in https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.27356. Looks like revisions

I thought I initially found one where it did not seem like the preprints should both be associated to the same journal publication... although given that many of these don't seem to be errors, I am not too worried.

[cgreene]

This one is really odd. The number of authors dropped with the later preprint but went back up for the journal (if it's a revision):
https://doi.org/10.1101/008755 and https://doi.org/10.1101/046995 both published in https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2015.03.004. I am not sure about this one.

In any case, I agree with you that it doesn't seem like a big deal.

[dhimmel]

Tweeted:

Playing with #Rxivist database and noticed instances where multiple #preprints were marked as published by the same journal article.
Many seem like revisions posted as new preprints or other corner cases. 
@biorxivpreprint, how do publications get matched?