An E-Print Archive is one of several new alternative publishing models for scholarship. "‘E-prints’ are electronic copies of academic research papers. They may take the form of ‘pre-prints’ (papers before they have been refereed) or ‘post-prints’ (after they have been refereed). They may be journal articles, conference papers, book chapters or any other form of research output. An ‘e-print archive’ is simply an online repository of these materials. Typically, an e-print archive is normally made freely available on the web with the aim of ensuring the widest possible dissemination of their its contents." (Stephen Pinfield, Mike Gardner and John MacColl, "Setting up an institutional e-print archive" <http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue31/eprint-archives/>).

An E-Print Archive is typically a disciplinary repository, residing at a single institution but servicing scholars everywhere within that academic field. However, an E-Print Archive can also be an institutional repository, preserving and making available the scholarly output of a single institution across its many disciplines.

Example E-Print Archives (disciplinary):