PsyArXiv (psyarxiv.com) is a free preprint server for psychology and the behavioural sciences, operated by the Center for Open Science (COS) as part of the Open Science Framework (OSF). It hosts preprints — manuscripts posted before or during peer review — in clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, neuroscience (behavioural), educational psychology, and related fields. All preprints are freely available without subscription. PsyArXiv is the psychology equivalent of bioRxiv for biology or arXiv for physics.

How is PsyArXiv different from PsycINFO?

PsyArXiv and PsycINFO serve completely different purposes. PsyArXiv hosts free preprints — early versions of papers posted by authors before peer review. PsycINFO is APA's subscription database that indexes published, peer-reviewed journal articles and books. PsyArXiv content is always free; PsycINFO requires a library subscription. Both are valuable: PsyArXiv for the latest research as it happens, PsycINFO for comprehensive peer-reviewed literature search.

How do I find and download a PsyArXiv preprint?

Go to psyarxiv.com and use the search bar to find papers by keyword, author, or topic. On a preprint's page, click 'Download' to download the PDF. You can also find PsyArXiv preprints via Google Scholar (search your topic and look for psyarxiv.com links in results) or OSF (osf.io). PsyArXiv preprints always include a version history, so you can see if a revised version has been posted.

Do psychology preprints convert well to EPUB?

Generally very well. Psychology papers follow a standard APA-style structure: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References. This structure produces clean section headings that toolkit.bot uses to build a navigable table of contents. The main exception is papers with complex statistical tables or figures — these are preserved as images in the EPUB and may be hard to read at small sizes. For reading the narrative sections (which is where most of the intellectual content is), EPUB conversion is excellent.

Should I read the preprint or wait for the published version?

It depends on your purpose. For staying current with research as it develops, preprints are valuable — many important findings appear on PsyArXiv months or years before journal publication. For citing in academic work, prefer the peer-reviewed published version where available. PsyArXiv often links to the published version when it's available. If you're reading for background or professional development rather than citation, the preprint is fine.

How to Convert PsyArXiv Psychology Preprints to EPUB for E-Reader Reading (2026)

Updated June 2026 · Research

PsyArXiv is the open preprint server for psychology and behavioural sciences — part of the Center for Open Science's OSF platform. All preprints are free to download. Converting psychology preprint PDFs to EPUB makes them much more comfortable to read on a Kindle or Kobo: the APA structure (Introduction/Method/Results/Discussion) becomes a navigable table of contents, and you can set your preferred font size and night mode.

Psychology preprint and database sources compared

Source	Type	Free?	Peer reviewed?
PsyArXiv	Preprints	Yes — always	No — pre-review
PsycINFO	Index database	Subscription	Yes
PsycARTICLES	Full-text APA journals	Subscription	Yes
PubMed Central	Full-text (NIH-funded)	Yes — always	Yes
Google Scholar	Index + PDF links	Varies	Varies
ResearchGate	Self-archived papers	Usually	Usually

How to download and convert a PsyArXiv preprint to EPUB

Go to psyarxiv.com and search for your topic
On the preprint page, click 'Download' to get the PDF
Go to toolkit.bot/pdf2epub and upload the PDF
Download the EPUB — APA section headings become a navigable table of contents
Send to Kindle by email or transfer to Kobo by USB

Frequently asked questions

What is PsyArXiv?: PsyArXiv (psyarxiv.com) is a free preprint server for psychology and the behavioural sciences, operated by the Center for Open Science (COS) as part of the Open Science Framework (OSF). It hosts preprints — manuscripts posted before or during peer review — in clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, neuroscience (behavioural), educational psychology, and related fields. All preprints are freely available without subscription. PsyArXiv is the psychology equivalent of bioRxiv for biology or arXiv for physics.
How is PsyArXiv different from PsycINFO?: PsyArXiv and PsycINFO serve completely different purposes. PsyArXiv hosts free preprints — early versions of papers posted by authors before peer review. PsycINFO is APA's subscription database that indexes published, peer-reviewed journal articles and books. PsyArXiv content is always free; PsycINFO requires a library subscription. Both are valuable: PsyArXiv for the latest research as it happens, PsycINFO for comprehensive peer-reviewed literature search.
How do I find and download a PsyArXiv preprint?: Go to psyarxiv.com and use the search bar to find papers by keyword, author, or topic. On a preprint's page, click 'Download' to download the PDF. You can also find PsyArXiv preprints via Google Scholar (search your topic and look for psyarxiv.com links in results) or OSF (osf.io). PsyArXiv preprints always include a version history, so you can see if a revised version has been posted.
Do psychology preprints convert well to EPUB?: Generally very well. Psychology papers follow a standard APA-style structure: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References. This structure produces clean section headings that toolkit.bot uses to build a navigable table of contents. The main exception is papers with complex statistical tables or figures — these are preserved as images in the EPUB and may be hard to read at small sizes. For reading the narrative sections (which is where most of the intellectual content is), EPUB conversion is excellent.
Should I read the preprint or wait for the published version?: It depends on your purpose. For staying current with research as it develops, preprints are valuable — many important findings appear on PsyArXiv months or years before journal publication. For citing in academic work, prefer the peer-reviewed published version where available. PsyArXiv often links to the published version when it's available. If you're reading for background or professional development rather than citation, the preprint is fine.