ABSTRACT This study investigated papers posted on bioR X iv. In 2013–19, 17,818 papers were published in academic journals, accounting for 40.67% of the total publication. Among them, the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection recorded journals of 16,525 published papers, accounting for 92.74% of the total. The following conclusions can be drawn. (1) Results indicate scientists' attention to the preprint system. (2) A large number of papers still use traditional publishing as the ultimate goal. (3) Because the posted papers scrutinized in this study were published in journals with a high impact factor, they have attracted the attention of many scientists. Nevertheless, we believe that the preprint platform will play a greater role from the academic exchange perspective.