Abstract

Background Traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM) encompasses a wide range of healthcare practices and is of growing global interest. Preprints, scientific manuscripts posted prior to formal peer review, offer opportunities to address challenges in TCIM research, including limited funding, publication delays, and concerns about methodological quality. By increasing the visibility and speed of research dissemination, preprints may help strengthen the TCIM evidence base. This bibliometric analysis examined the characteristics of TCIM-related preprints posted on servers with TCIM subject filters.

Methods Preprints were sourced from the ASAPbio preprint server directory, limited to servers with TCIM-related categories. Data extraction (June 4, 2024 to January 14, 2025) included title, DOI, abstract, authors, affiliations, preprint posted date, publication journal (if applicable), publication date, preprint type, keywords, number of versions, citations, comments, and funding information. Author geographic distribution, collaboration networks, and key research topics were also analyzed.

Results Between 2012 and 2024, 1,980 TCIM preprints were posted across 11 servers. Research Square hosted the most preprints, and China contributed the highest number. Among the 612 preprints later published in journals, BMC Trials was the most common destination, with a median time of 4.89 months from preprint to publication. Funding information was often missing, but when reported, the National Natural Science Foundation of China was the most frequent sponsor. Overall, citation and comment activity was low. Wellcome Open Research had the highest average citations and comments per preprint among all servers.

Conclusion This study provides the first in-depth analysis of TCIM preprints, revealing active research areas and important gaps in preprint usage, geographical representation, and post-publication engagement. Findings highlight opportunities to improve transparency and research dissemination in TCIM through more consistent preprint practices and tracking.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Clinical Protocols

https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/4MSBC

Funding Statement

This study was unfunded.

Author Declarations

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

List of AbbreviationsNCCIHNational Center for Complementary and Integrative HealthOSFOpen Science FrameworkTCIMtraditional, complementary, and integrative medicineWHOWorld Health Organization