Conclusion

Growth in preprint repositories has given academic communities an incredibly powerful medium to share findings with enough urgency to drive responses to public health emergencies. While this is exemplified by the phenomenal boom in preprint research addressing the COVID-19 epidemic, significant challenges remain. As the epidemic continues, preprints and other unreviewed research must continue to be held under scrutiny and academics should make sure limitations of preprints are made clear to non-academic audiences. So long as these challenges are addressed, open-platform science is set to remain an integral tool to face global crises in future.