Covid-19 has changed the way many people live and work. It has also had an impact on the ways many scientists collaborate and carry out their research – and how they release their findings. The need for speed in the fast-changing research landscape of the pandemic put pressure on biomedical researchers to share their work as fast as possible. Many communicated their findings using preprints for the first time, releasing research reports that have not been thoroughly reviewed. By putting these preprints into non-profit online libraries – preprint servers – that do not charge for access, they could get their results out far quicker than if they had been given a thorough review and published in a traditional journal. That process that could take more than a year.