Researchers say they participate in the process in large part because the imprimatur of highly selective journals like Science, Nature and Cell has come to be viewed as a proxy for quality science. Like a degree from certain colleges, a study in an elite journal can be a passport to jobs, funding and promotions.

While several influential journals, including Science and Nature, have a stated policy of treating preprints on an equal footing with papers that have not been posted elsewhere, few biologists have chosen an option they fear will handicap already slim prospects of acceptance. Some journals have a policy of not considering preprints. And others, like Cell, say prospective authors who wish to post preprints must ask first.

Anne Carpenter, a computational biologist affiliated with the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard said that she thinks that many young scientists prefer sticking with high-profile journals because the alternative just seems to too risky.