Clarifying the commonalities and differences between preprint platforms and academic journals and fostering their integration and symbiosis will help build a more efficient and open scientific communication ecosystem. Based on literature reviews and online research, and grounded in the analysis of the scientific knowledge communication process, this paper constructs a framework for scientific knowledge exchange from a sociology of science perspective. It then incorporates preprint platforms and academic journals into this framework to systematically examine their commonalities and differences. The findings reveal that their commonalities lie in the selective preservation and accumulation of scientific knowledge, the differential presentation and dissemination of scientific knowledge, taking the promotion of knowledge innovation as the core purpose, and taking peer recognition as the operational driving force. Their differences are reflected in the review and screening of scientific knowledge, the publication and right confirmation of scientific knowledge, the constructed scientific knowledge field, academic community recognition, and resource guarantee. Building on the above findings and guided by Merton’s institutional norms of science, this paper suggests adopting measures such as dynamic review, resource integration, collaborative dissemination, and constructing a multidimensional evaluation system to promote the integration and symbiosis of preprint platforms and academic journals.