Inferring the causal effect of journals on citations

Articles in high-impact journals are, on average, more frequently cited. But are they cited more often because those articles are somehow more citable? Or are they cited more often simply because they are published in a high-impact journal? Although some evidence suggests the latter, the causal relationship is not clear. We here compare citations of preprints to citations of the published version to uncover the causal mechanism. We build on an...