Analysis of single comments left for bioRxiv preprints till September 2019

IntroductionWhile early commenting on studies is seen as one of the advantages of preprints, the type of such comments, and the people who post them, have not been systematically explored.Materials and methodsWe analysed comments posted between 21 May 2015 and 9 September 2019 for 1983 bioRxiv preprints that received only one comment on the bioRxiv website. The comment types were classified by three coders independently, with all differences resolved by consensus.ResultsOur analysis showed that 69% of comments were posted by non-authors (N = 1366), and 31% by the preprints’ authors themselves (N = 617). Twelve percent of non-author comments (N = 168) were full review reports traditionally found during journal review, while the rest most commonly contained praises (N = 577, 42%), suggestions (N = 399, 29%), or criticisms (N = 226, 17%). Authors’ comments most commonly contained publication status updates (N = 354, 57%), additional study information (N = 158, 26%), or solicited feedback for the preprints (N = 65, 11%).ConclusionsOur results indicate that comments posted for bioRxiv preprints may have potential benefits for both the public and the scholarly community. Further research is needed to measure the direct impact of these comments on comments made by journal peer reviewers, subsequent preprint versions or journal publications.     

EFFECTS OF TEACHER–STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS ON PEER HARASSMENT: A MULTILEVEL STUDY

Peer harassment is a major social problem affecting children and adolescents internationally. Much research has focused on student‐to‐student harassment from either an individual or a multilevel perspective. There is a paucity of multilevel research on students’ relationships with the classroom teacher. The purpose of this study was to use a socioecological perspective to examine the relationships between individual student‐level characteristics, problematic teacher–student relationships, and student‐reported peer harassment. A total of 1,864 children (50.7% female) aged 8 to 13 years (M = 9.82, SD = 1.24), nested in 27 schools (58.2% public) in Spain, participated in the study. Ninety‐four homeroom teachers reported on teacher–student relationships, and students completed self‐report measures related to peer harassment and teacher–student relationships. Multilevel models showed that relationships between students and teachers exerted a varying degree of influence on classroom levels of peer harassment. Specifically, student‐reported teacher support was associated with diminished student‐reported peer victimization, whereas direct and indirect student‐reported teacher‐to‐student aggression was associated with increased peer victimization. Additionally, student‐reported student‐to‐teacher aggression and teacher‐to‐student aggression were associated with increased student‐reported peer aggression. Teacher‐reported variables at the classroom level, however, contributed little to student‐reported outcomes. Results are discussed in the context of future research on relationships between teachers and students.