But given the rapid pace of improvements, many researchers fear that if they wait to publish in a journal, their record will already have been eclipsed and their moment at the cutting edge will go undocumented. So instead of sitting on that research, they opt for instant publication on websites like www.arxiv.org, an online repository of scientific papers. The site lets researchers instantly time-stamp their research, planting a stake in the ground to mark the “when and what” of their algorithmic achievements.
