For physics, this process has already started. Even though publication in journals is still dominant and necessary, the arXiv is changing that landscape. Biologists, however, do not have this tradition yet.
That’s not to say that biologists are especially touchy about reputation. Frankly, if the arXiv were introduced in its present form to the field of physics back when it was started, similar worries would have surfaced. Remember, arXiv started as a way to share papers before publication, and it was never intended to replace (or even streamline) publication. Many would argue that it still isn’t intended to replace publication, but I think that ship is getting ready to raise the gangplank.
I suspect theft and priority are some additional fears for those worrying about these sites. I put my paper on the arXiv and then submit it to a journal. A rival submits the same work directly to a journal. Who has priority?
Given some of the behavior we’ve seen among scientists already, you know it will happen: someone with the ethical sense of a dead fish will start trawling the arXiv for yet-to-be published work. They will change the names and affiliations of the authors and submit directly to a journal.
In physics, because the arXiv grew out of a small community, this fear was a minor one. From there, the arXiv grew to encompass new fields of physics, which required some significant changes. Now, at least the submitting author must be registered. And the arXiv can flag suspicious activity and require that those authors be endorsed by someone trusted by the arXiv. It also has an army of volunteers that do a cursory check of all submitted papers and can reject or reclassify papers. This combination reduces the chance of theft quite significantly.
Unfortunately, that culture and infrastructure doesn’t exist at the bioRXiv yet. This is also not a case of something growing out of a small, single field—it is being dropped on the world’s largest research community. BioRXiv’s culture will be determined over the next few years by its users and its abusers. The cynical among us believe the abusers will win out.
But I mostly think that the cynical and skeptical are wrong. Biology is not so different that biorXiv is destined to fail. I know it’s a scary new world for biologists and that they may get a few scratches. However, it is also ripe with opportunity. Stop worrying and start sharing.