Preprints as anticipatory infrastructures: preserving the generative phase of trans-disciplinary innovation

Scientific breakthroughs rarely begin as polished theories; they emerge as raw, unfiltered ideas that challenge convention and demand cross-disciplinary exploration. Preprints have transformed this early stage of discovery, providing an open arena where unconventional concepts – once confined to lab notebooks or conference whispers – can be shared, debated and refined in real time. From CRISPR (Hossain, 2021) to AlphaFold (Jumper et al., 2021), history shows that unfiltered ideas, when rapidly disseminated, catalyze disruptive advances across biology, medicine and beyond. Yet academia often undervalues these fragile beginnings, prioritizing finished narratives over generative sparks. This article argues for the preservation of unfiltered ideas through preprints as the cornerstone of trans-disciplinary innovation. Beyond accelerating collaboration and transparency, preprints function as anticipatory infrastructures – expanding society’s capacity to imagine, contest and co-create knowledge futures. By legitimizing early dissemination, they unlock solutions to global challenges that no single discipline can reach alone.