Editing Social Science Research Network

{{Short description|Repository for preprints}}
{{redirect|SSRN|the submarine|USS Triton (SSRN-586)}}
{{infobox bibliographic database
| title       = SSRN
| image       = SSRN Logo.svg
| caption     = 
| industry    = Information and [[open access]] content
| producer    = [[Elsevier]]
| country     = 
| history     = 1994–present
| languages   = [[English language|English]]
| providers   = 
| cost        = Mostly [[Gratis versus libre#Uses in open-access academic publishing|fee-free]] (monetarily gratis)
| disciplines = [[Social sciences]], [[Engineering#Main branches of engineering|engineering sciences]], [[humanities]], [[life sciences]], [[applied sciences]], [[health sciences]], and [[physical sciences]]
| depth       = Index, abstract, and full-text 
| formats     = Papers
| temporal    = 
| geospatial  = 
| number      = 
| updates     = 
| p_title     = 
| p_dates     = 
| web         = {{official url}}
| titles      =  
}}

The '''Social Science Research Network''' ('''SSRN''') is an open access research platform that functions as a [[Institutional repository|repository]] for sharing [[preprints|early-stage research]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is SSRN? - SSRN Support Center |url=https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/34348/session/L3RpbWUvMTczODM1Mzg4OS9nZW4vMTczODM1Mzg4OS9zaWQvZlU2amtHR0FOdWJEUmVuejhIa2dReFdFSDN2ZlpTQTVBalZaMXpkT3NHVmtPbXk0QVRQRzFacXhRWTY2dzdETGhoeG5Xa3BrMDRDajNqWVNWTHBWUWx5cjRvZUw4JTdFZFl4R3RzUEt3OSU3RUV5clpOU1E0SnhYQ2hlUSUyMSUyMQ==/supporthub/ssrn/p/16539/ |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=service.elsevier.com}}</ref> and the rapid dissemination of scholarly research in the [[social sciences]], [[humanities]], [[life sciences]], and [[health sciences]], among others. [[Elsevier]] bought SSRN from Social Science Electronic Publishing Inc. in May 2016.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Gordon |first=Gregg |date=17 May 2016 |title=SSRN—a leading social science and humanities repository and online community—joins Elsevier |url=https://www.elsevier.com/connect/ssrn-the-leading-social-science-and-humanities-repository-and-online-community-joins-elsevier |work=Elsevier Connect |publisher=Elsevier |access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref> It is not an electronic journal, but rather an electronic library and search engine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SSRN Paper Submission Process |url=https://www.ssrn.com/sites/en/assets/Image/SSRN_PAPERSUBMISSION_10August2018.pdf |website=SSRN}}</ref>

== History ==
SSRN was founded in 1994 by [[Michael C. Jensen]] and Wayne Marr, both [[financial economics|financial economists]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rbj.net/2016/06/03/dutch-company-acquires-firm-in-brighton/|title=Dutch company acquires firm in Brighton|last=Feltner|first=Kerry|date=2016-06-03|website=Rochester Business Journal|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-21}}</ref> 

In January 2013, SSRN was ranked the largest open-access repository in the world by Ranking Web of Repositories (an initiative of the [[Cybermetrics Lab]], a research group belonging to the [[Spanish National Research Council]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://repositories.webometrics.info/en/world|title=World|date=January 2013|publisher=Cybermetrics Lab|work=Ranking Web of Repositories|access-date=11 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629031236/http://repositories.webometrics.info/en/world|archive-date=2013-06-29}}</ref> measured by number of PDF files, backlinks and [[Google Scholar]] results.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://repositories.webometrics.info/en/Methodology|title=Methodology|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701033427/http://repositories.webometrics.info/en/Methodology|archive-date=2013-07-01}}</ref>

In May 2016, SSRN was bought from Social Science Electronic Publishing Inc. by [[Elsevier]].<ref name=":0" /> On 17 May 2016, the SSRN founder and chairman [[Michael C. Jensen]] wrote a letter to the SSRN community in which he cited SSRN CEO Gregg Gordon's post on the Elsevier Connect<ref>[https://www.elsevier.com/connect/ssrn-the-leading-social-science-and-humanities-repository-and-online-community-joins-elsevier Elsevier Connect]</ref> and the "new opportunities" coming from the fusion,<ref name="SSRN in Elsevier">{{cite web|url=https://www.elsevier.com/connect/ssrn-the-,leading-social-science-and-humanities-repository-and-online-community-joins-elsevier|title=Photo|trans-title=SSRN—the leading social science and humanities repository and online community—joins Elsevier|author= Gregg Gordon|date =May 17, 2016}}</ref> such as a broader global network and the freedom "to upload and download papers" (with more data, more resources, as well as new management tools). While predicting "some conflicts" on the interests alignment of the former competitors, he defined them as "surmountable".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/ssrn-joins-mendeley-elsevier/ |title=From The Desk of Michael C. Jensen, Chairman|date=May 17, 2016|publisher=SSRN |author=Michael C. Jensen}}</ref>

In July 2016 there were reports of papers being removed from SSRN without notice; revision comments from SSRN indicated this was due to copyright concerns.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160718/02211935003/just-as-open-competitor-to-elseviers-ssrn-launches-ssrn-accused-copyright-crackdown.shtml|title=Just as Open Competitor to Elsevier's SSRN Launches, SSRN Accused Of Copyright Crackdown|publisher=[[Techdirt]] |last=Masnick|first=Mike|date=18 July 2016 |access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref> Gordon characterized the issue as a mistake affecting about 20 papers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/07/19/social-science-research-network-confusion-leads-calls-boycott |title='There Isn't Some Big Conspiracy Happening' |website=Inside Higher Ed|last=Straumsheim|first=Carl|date=19 July 2016 |access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref>

== Operations ==
Academic papers in [[Portable Document Format]] can be uploaded directly to the SSRN site by authors and are then available around the world for download.<ref>In case the web page [''formerly''] at https://support.ssrn.com/knowledgebase.php?article=67 is now a [[link rot|"dead link"]]<!-- Note: if "dead link" isn't in quotes, this page will throw a false positive on template maintenance script runs. -->, please see (instead) this 'extant' web page: {{cite web |date=2014-12-03 |title=Submit a Paper to SSRN |url=https://support.ssrn.com/knowledgebase.php?article=28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629230306/https://support.ssrn.com/knowledgebase.php?article=28 |access-date=February 3, 2022 |publisher=[[SSRN]] |quote=(QUOTE:) [...] you upload your PDF |archivedate=June 29, 2016}}</ref>  Users can also subscribe to abstracting emails covering a broad range of research areas and topic specialties. These distributing emails contain abstracts (with links to the full text where applicable) of papers recently submitted to SSRN in the respective field.

SSRN, like other preprint services, circulates publications throughout the scholarly community at an early stage, permitting the author to incorporate comments into the final version of the paper before its publication in a journal. Moreover, even if access to the published paper is restricted, access to the original working paper remains open through SSRN, so long as the author decides to keep the paper up.  Often authors take papers down at the request of publishers, particularly if they are published by commercial or university presses that depend on payment for paper copies or online access.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pijssl.com/p/current-issue.html| title=Praxis International Journal of Social Science and Literature | accessdate=2020-03-21 | publisher=Pijssl.com|date=2021-07-21|language=english|author=Ashish SIngh}}</ref>

As of 2019, download by users is generally subject to registration and/or completion of a [[ReCAPTCHA]] challenge and therefore SSRN is not considered by some to be a suitable [[open access]] location,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.unpaywall.org/support/solutions/articles/44002140100-what-counts-as-an-open-access-location- |title=What counts as an Open Access location?|author=Richard Orr |date=2020-12-31 |publisher=[[Unpaywall]]}}</ref> unlike [[open archive]]s like most [[institutional repository|institutional repositories]]. Publishers and institutions can upload papers and charge a fee for readers to download them.<ref name="About_SSRN">{{cite web |url=http://www.ssrn.com/update/general/mjensen.html |title=About SSRN |first=Michael C. |last=Jensen |author-link=Michael C. Jensen |date=2 February 2012 |publisher=Social Science Research Network |access-date=30 December 2013}}</ref>

On SSRN, authors and papers are ranked by their number of downloads, which has become an informal indicator of popularity on prepress and [[Open access (publishing)|open access]] sites.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Black|first1=Bernard S.|last2=Caron|first2=Paul|title=Ranking Law Schools: Using SSRN to Measure Scholarly Performance |ssrn=784764|id=U of Texas law, Law and Econ Research Paper No. 52; U of Cincinnati Public Law Research Paper No. 05-14|journal=Indiana Law Journal|issue=Symposium on The Next Generation of Law School Rankings|volume=81|year=2006}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of academic databases and search engines]]
* [[List of preprint repositories]]
* [[ArXiv]]
* [[Research Papers in Economics]]
* [[SocArXiv]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikidata property|P3747|P893}}
* {{Official website|https://www.ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/}}

{{Reed Elsevier}}

[[Category:Elsevier]]
[[Category:Engineering literature]]
[[Category:Eprint archives]]
[[Category:Medical literature]]
[[Category:Open-access archives]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1994]]
[[Category:Social sciences literature]]