[mattkrause]

I think that's less true than it used to be: a lot of papers now cite bioarxiv or arxiv preprints. I've never gotten any pushback and most journals explicitly allow it.

Science: "We do allow citations to papers posted at arXiv or bioRxiv." https://www.sciencemag.org/authors/instructions-preparing-in...

Nature (and other NPG journals): "Preprints may be cited in the reference list of articles under consideration at Nature Research journals...." https://www.nature.com/nature-research/editorial-policies/pr...

Cell (and other Cell Press journals, including Neuron and Current Biology): "Posted preprints may also be included in the References list with appropriate identification information...." https://www.cell.com/cell/authors

PNAS: "Preprints are cited as follows with a DOI or preprint ID number, and the date of posting...."https://www.cell.com/cell/authors