A preprint is a draft research paper that is shared publicly before it has undergone peer review. Preprint manuscripts are assigned a Digital Object Identification (DOI) number for citation purposes. Uploading a paper to pre print server has the benefits of getting the research available and visible to others in a shortened time frame, thus allowing credit to be given to the initial researcher and increasing collaboration and feedback.
https://www.aje.com/arc/benefits-of-preprints-for-researchers/
"File:Preprint postprint published.svg" by Thomas Shafee is licensed under CC BY 4.0