  Although there was an early experiment in the 1960s with the central
distribution of paper preprints in the biomedical sciences, these sciences have
not been early adopters of electronic preprint servers. Some barriers to the
development of a 'preprint culture' in the biomedical sciences are described.
Multiple factors that, from the 1960s, fostered the transition from a
paper-based preprint culture in high energy physics to an electronic one are
also described. A new revolution in scientific publishing, in which journals
come to be regarded as an overlay on electronic preprint databases, will
probably overtake some areas of research much more quickly than others.
