Research Square
Research Square is a private research communication platform operating a free multidisciplinary preprint server and journal-integrated peer review tracking service, monetized through AJE editing services, Springer Nature-distributed research promotion products, and an AI writing assistant.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersDurham, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Research Square does
Research Square is a private research communication and pre-publication platform founded in 2012, headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, and operating as Research Square Company with 251-500 employees. The company runs a multidisciplinary preprint server hosting 451,531+ preprints where researchers can post manuscripts early, receive community feedback, and obtain DOIs indexed across Google Scholar, Europe PMC, PubMed, Crossref, Scite, and Researcher App. Through the In Review service, the platform is integrated directly into 600+ journal submission systems including Nature Portfolio, BMC (200+ titles), and Springer journals, enabling authors to post preprints that track peer review status in real time. Automated Prescreen checks screen submissions for ethics, consent, competing interests, patient identifiers, and inappropriate claims, and all content is preserved through Portico for long-term archival.
The company's core technology stack combines full-text HTML preprint rendering, Crossref DOI assignment, multi-indexer metadata syndication, and journal manuscript tracking system integrations for the In Review workflow. Its wholly-owned subsidiary American Journal Experts (AJE) provides English language editing, manuscript formatting, figure preparation, and translation services, and has supported 775,000+ manuscripts from researchers in 192 countries, making it the largest author services company globally under the Research Square umbrella. Adjacent products include Video Bytes (1-2 minute video summaries with claimed 140% higher Altmetric scores), Graphical Abstracts (visual summaries for social media and conferences), and Rubriq, an AI-powered academic writing assistant delivered as tracked changes inside the Research Square Dashboard.
The business model is a freemium-plus-professional-services hybrid. Core preprint posting is free, monetized indirectly through upsells to paid AJE editing/formatting services, Springer Nature-distributed Video Bytes and Graphical Abstracts promotion products, and Rubriq subscription access. Go-to-market combines a self-serve PLG web platform for individual researchers with a channel-driven motion through the In Review journal partnership network and the Springer Nature / AJE author services channel. There are no disclosed funding rounds or institutional investors, suggesting the company is self-sustaining through operating cash flow.
Research Square firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Research Square
- Legal name
- Research Square Company
- Website
- https://researchsquare.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Research Square is a private research communication platform operating a free multidisciplinary preprint server and journal-integrated peer review tracking service, monetized through AJE editing services, Springer Nature-distributed research promotion products, and an AI writing assistant.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Research Square industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Academic Research Communication Platform
- NAICS
- Periodical Publishers (51312)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed) (MPAJABAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Conference Proceedings & Research Reports Publishing (EDAGAFAL)
Keywords
Where Research Square is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Durham
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Research Square business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Author Services - AJE: American Journal Experts (AJE) is the largest author services company providing English language editing, manuscript formatting, figure preparation, and translation services. AJE is operated as part of Research Square Company and has supported over 775,000 manuscripts from researchers in 192 countries.
- Research Promotion Products: Video Bytes (1-2 minute video summaries of research) and Graphical Abstracts produced in partnership with Springer Nature Author Services. These premium products are sold to authors wanting to promote their research beyond traditional publication.
- Rubriq AI Writing Assistant: AI-powered academic writing assistant connected to Research Square manuscripts. Provides editing suggestions, improves writing structure, and enhances flow for academic content.
- Preprint Platform Services: Core preprint posting is free. Premium features include advanced commenting, unlimited access. Revenue is indirect through author services upsell and promotion products rather than direct preprint fees.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free Preprint Posting |
| Other | One time/ perpetual license | Video Bytes - Research Promotion |
| Other | One time/ perpetual license | Graphical Abstracts |
| Subscription | Monthly | AJE Editing Services |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Research Square product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Research Square operates a multidisciplinary preprint server platform that enables researchers to post early-stage manuscripts, receive DOI assignment, and track peer review status through its journal-integrated 'In Review' service partnered with 600+ journals. The company also provides paid author services through its American Journal Experts (AJE) subsidiary, including English language editing, manuscript formatting, figure preparation, translation, Video Bytes video summaries, Graphical Abstracts, and the Rubriq AI writing assistant.
Product overview
Research Square is a mission-driven preprint and author services platform operated by Research Square Company. The core offering consists of the Research Square Preprint Platform—a multidisciplinary preprint server where researchers can share work early and receive feedback—and In Review, a free journal-integrated preprint service linked to participating journals. Author services are provided through partnerships: Video Bytes and Graphical Abstracts (under the Research Promotion brand via AJE/Springer Nature), and professional editing/formatting via American Journal Experts (AJE). An AI-powered writing assistant called Rubriq provides editing suggestions integrated into the Research Square Dashboard. The platform hosts over 451,000 preprints across all scientific disciplines, with participation from hundreds of journals spanning Nature Portfolio, BMC, and many others.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Research Square Preprint Platform A multidisciplinary preprint server enabling researchers to post early-stage manuscripts, receive full-text HTML display, automatic DOI assignment, and indexing across major academic discovery platforms such as Google Scholar, Europe PMC, PubMed, Crossref, and Scite. Free to post; serves academic researchers across all scientific disciplines.
- In Review
Quantifiable outcome
- Articles with video summaries have 140% higher Altmetric scores, 80% more article views, and 33% higher rankings than articles without videos
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Research Square
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Research Square technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature7 records
Research Square partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- Springer Nature Author Services / AJEcoreResearch Promotion products (Video Bytes, Graphical Abstracts) are offered in partnership with Springer Nature Author Services. AJE (American Journal Experts) operates as the largest author services company, now part of Research Square Company. Services include English editing, formatting, figures, and video production marketed through both platforms.
- PorticocoreAll Research Square content is archived through Portico, a not-for-profit organization committed to long-term preservation of scholarly content. Ensures permanence of preprints if the platform ceases operations.
- Nature Portfolio JournalsflagshipNature Portfolio journals participate in In Review service, allowing authors to post preprints with DOI tracking through peer review. Major flagship journals including Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Communications participate.
- BMC Journals (Springer Nature)flagship200+ BMC journals participate in In Review service. Authors submitting to BMC journals can opt in to preprint posting with DOI and track peer review status through Research Square integration.
- Springer JournalscoreHundreds of Springer journals participate in In Review, providing journal-integrated preprint posting for authors. Integration with Springer manuscript tracking systems.
- CrossrefcoreAll preprints receive DOI through Crossref integration, making them citable and part of the scholarly record with permanent digital presence.
- Europe PMCcorePreprints indexed through Europe PMC for discoverability in European biomedical literature repository. PubMed Central also indexes limited COVID-related preprints.
- Google ScholarcorePreprints indexed in Google Scholar for academic search visibility and citation tracking.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Research Square competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- ChemRxiv: Chemistry preprint server operated by the American Chemical Society. Direct competitor in discipline-specific preprint posting and a model for publisher-owned preprint platforms.
- arXiv: Cornell University-operated preprint server for physics, mathematics, computer science, and quantitative biology. Direct competitor in the preprint server category, with deep entrenchment in STEM research communities.
- Scribendi: Professional editing services company with academic editing offerings. Direct competitor to AJE in the English language editing and manuscript preparation market for researchers.
- SSRN: Social Science Research Network, owned by Elsevier, hosts preprints across social sciences and humanities. Direct competitor in scholarly preprint posting and an early mover in journal-integrated preprint workflows.
- bioRxiv / medRxiv: Operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, bioRxiv and medRxiv are the dominant preprint servers for life sciences and medical research. Direct competitor to Research Square's preprint platform, with stronger category leadership in the highest-volume research disciplines.
- Editage (Cactus Communications): Cactus Communications' Editage brand is a direct competitor to AJE in the author services and manuscript editing market, serving researchers globally with English editing, translation, and publication support.
Broad incumbents
- Springer Nature: One of the largest academic publishers globally and Research Square's flagship partner for journal integrations (Nature Portfolio, BMC) and research promotion product distribution. Comparable as a broad scholarly publishing platform and a counterparty with overlapping researcher relationships.
- Elsevier: Major academic publisher operating ScienceDirect and owning SSRN, Scopus, and other research platforms. Comparable as a broad incumbent in scholarly publishing with potential to launch or acquire competing preprint and author service offerings.
- MDPI: Open access scholarly publisher with its own preprint server (Preprints.org). Comparable as an incumbent operating both publishing and preprint platforms, competing for journal-integrated preprint workflows.
Emerging players
- PeerJ: Open access scholarly publisher in life sciences and computer science with peer-reviewed journals and preprint capabilities. Comparable as an emerging platform player in scholarly publishing with overlapping author services and preprint offerings.
Market position
Strengths2 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Research Square social profiles
Digital presenceResearch Square financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Research Square leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Research Square subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
Research Square funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Research Square M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Research Square
What does Research Square do?
Research Square operates a multidisciplinary preprint server platform that enables researchers to post early-stage manuscripts, receive DOI assignment, and track peer review status through its journal-integrated 'In Review' service partnered with 600+ journals. The company also provides paid author services through its American Journal Experts (AJE) subsidiary, including English language editing, manuscript formatting, figure preparation, translation, Video Bytes video summaries, Graphical Abstracts, and the Rubriq AI writing assistant.
Is Research Square a public or private company?
Research Square is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Research Square founded?
Research Square was founded in 2012. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Research Square based?
Research Square is headquartered in Durham, United States, in the North America region.
How does Research Square make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Author Services - AJE is the primary driver. The others are research Promotion Products, rubriq AI Writing Assistant and preprint Platform Services.
Who are Research Square's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are ChemRxiv, arXiv, Scribendi, SSRN, bioRxiv / medRxiv and Editage (Cactus Communications). Broad incumbents are Springer Nature, Elsevier and MDPI. PeerJ is listed as an emerging player.
Does Research Square have an API?
No public API is recorded for Research Square.
What industry is Research Square in?
Research Square's product category is Academic Research Communication Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJABAC, Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed), with a secondary code of EDAGAFAL, Conference Proceedings & Research Reports Publishing. Its NAICS code is 51312 and its SIC code is 2741.