[Albion Wilde]

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]

In practical terms, it means nobody else with proven expertise in the field has yet challenged the assumptions in this article.

Preprint
In academic publishing, a preprint is a version of a scholarly or scientific paper that precedes formal peer review and publication in a peer-reviewed scholarly or scientific journal.

Peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers)... a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field... to maintain quality standards, improve performance, and provide credibility. In academia, scholarly peer review is typically used to determine an academic paper's suitability for publication.

[woodpusher]

In practical terms, it means nobody else with proven expertise in the field has yet challenged the assumptions in this article.

It has not been peer reviewed by referees. The scientific method has been found by a court to be “generally accepted as reliable within the scientific community” and used for the admission of evidence in a murder trial.