PaperPlayer Partners with bioRxiv
Launching audio abstracts on biorxiv.org
We are thrilled to announce that we have partnered with bioRxiv to deliver audio abstracts on their hugely successful preprint platform biorxiv.org.
If you are new here: PaperPlayer’s mission is to allow anyone to listen to research articles as if they were audiobooks or podcasts. This is great for catching up on the latest preprints on-the-go, and also allows for new ways of engaging with scientific content through audio and increasing the accessibility of research outputs.
Audio is an underutilised modality in research communication, despite its ability to enhance the dissemination of research outputs.
Months in the making
PaperPlayer has been working on the bioRxiv integration for months. During that time there have been lots of interactions with the bioRxiv team to scope and deliver our collaborative pilot program.
Working with the bioRxiv team has been a great experience. Everyone has been excited to get the audio pilot program setup, and we’re eager to see how the community starts to use audio when discovering articles on bioRxiv. Huge thanks to all the the bioRxiv members that have put a lot of excellent work into this: Sam, Ted, KJ, John, Richard, and everyone else!
“This new feature extends and diversifies the distribution of information from bioRxiv, making it more accessible to everyone," said John Inglis, co-founder of bioRxiv. "We are pleased to partner with PaperPlayer in this pilot and would welcome community feedback as we consider extending audio distribution to preprints in other subject categories.”
Why now?
In 2022 there were over 86 Million total abstract views on biorxiv.org. Neuroscience is the largest submission category on the site with a 17-18% share. There’s huge potential for some of those abstract views to be listens.
The partnership with bioRxiv aims to address this by providing a new modality for regularly consuming research outputs, thereby enhancing the dissemination of research findings.
What’s next?
PaperPlayer is looking forward to continuing its partnership with bioRxiv and exploring new ways to bring audio publishing to the forefront of scientific communication.
We’re all excited to see what the bioRxiv community thinks of research audio! Together, will be evaluating the pilot program over the coming months as we collect more information and consider expanding audio distribution.