"Everyone Else Does It": The Rise of Preprinting Culture in Computing Disciplines

Abstract: Preprinting has become a norm in fast-paced computing fields such as AI and human-computer interaction (HCI). In this paper, we conducted semistructured interviews with 15 academics in these fields to reveal their motivations and perceptions of preprinting. The results found a close relationship between preprinting and characteristics of the fields, including the huge number of papers, competitiveness in career advancement, prevalence of scooping, and imperfect peer review system - preprinting comes to the rescue in one way or another for the participants. Based on the results, we reflect on the role of preprinting in subverting the traditional publication mode and outline possibilities of a better publication ecosystem. Our study contributes by inspecting the community aspects of preprinting practices through talking to academics.