This research analyzes the online attention received by preprints about Covid-19 shared on Twitter between 2020 and 2021. thematic category identifying the number of tweets received by each class. We used literature review, documental research, content analysis, and altmetric analysis procedures. We classified the preprints in 'Clinical Studies', 'Prevention', 'Transmission', 'Treatment-Drugs', 'Variants' and 'Others', disseminated more than 776,000 times. The categories 'Clinical Studies' and 'Prevention' were the ones that registered the most searches (53%) and most shares (57%). The study showed that studies related to the prevention of Covid-19 figured as the subjects of greatest interest to the scientific community and received greater attention from Twitter users. We concluded that altmetrics has provided a greater understanding of the impact of studies on Covid-19 and that thematic orientation contributes to a better understanding of the online attention directed to these studies.

The research aimed to analyze the online attention received by preprints about covid-19 shared on Twitter between the years 2020 to September 2021. Literature review, document research, content analysis and altmetric analysis procedures were used. The preprints were retrieved from the Dimensions database and classified by thematic categories, with eight being classified in the Clinical Studies category, three in the Others category, 14 in the Prevention category, six in the Transmission category, five in the Treatment – ​​Drugs category and four in the Variants category. 100,968 tweets were registered in the Clinical Studies category, 56,361 in the Others category, 269,347 in the Prevention category, 81,135 in the Transmission category, 61,720 in the Treatment – ​​Drugs category and 57,655 in the Variants category. It was concluded that altmetry has provided a greater understanding of the impact of research on covid-19 and on the debate held in public space about the pandemic and its consequences based on the understanding of online attention directed at these studies.

Objective. The online attention received by the pre-prints on covid-19 across Twitter was analyzed during the period January 2020-September 2021. Design/Methodology/Approach. The Covid-19 research in pre-print format was mapped using Dimensions as the data source. There were considered those articles with the highest circulation on Twitter. It was generated a classification of articles by thematic category and the tweets per category were counted. Besides, literature review, documentary research, content analysis, and altmetric analysis procedures were used. Results/Discussion. The 40 most disseminated pre-prints on the microblog were analyzed. They were framed into six categories, being 'Prevention' the most shared category with 245,367 tweets, followed by the 'Other' category with 84,281, 'Variants' with 81,391, and 'Transmission' with 81,135. The less shared categories were 'Clinical Studies' with 74,302 tweets and 'Treatment-Drugs' with 61,720. The majority of pre-prints dealt with topics related to covid-19 prevention, addressing topics like social distancing, use of masks, and vaccination. The most investigated categories were the ones with more online attention received, thus reflecting Twitter users’ interest in turning to research in the format of pre-prints with information sources about the covid-19 pandemic. Conclusions. Altmetrics technique has been useful to provide a greater understanding of the impact of covid-19 studies and its thematic orientation via the online attention received on Twitter.