Advances in peer review – ScienceOpen Blog

"It’s not too hard to see that the practices of and attitudes towards ‘open science’ are evolving amidst an ongoing examination about what the modern scholarly system should look like. While we might be more familiar with the ongoing debate about how to best implement open access to research articles and to the data behind publications, discussions regarding the structure, management, and process of peer review are perhaps more nuanced, but arguably of equal or greater significance. Peer review is of enormous importance for managing the content of the published scientific record and the careers of the scientists who produce it. It is perceived as the golden standard of scholarly publishing, and for many determines whether or not research can be viewed as scientifically valid. Accordingly, peer review is a vital component at the core of the process of research communication, with repercussions for the very structure of academia which largely operates through a publication-based reward and incentive system. In spite of this clear importance of peer review, there is increasing evidence that mistakes are becoming ever more frequent in the process. These range from simple gate-keeping errors based on differences in opinion of the perceived impact of research or the rejection of what then become seminal pieces of research, to fraudulent or incorrect work failing to be detected and entering the permanent scientific record. Attempts to reproduce how peer review filters what becomes published demonstrate that peer review is generally adequate for detecting quality work, but often fails to recognise the most impactful research. Many additionally regard the traditional peer review model as unnecessary as it causes delays to the publication and communication of novel research. In addition, some view traditional peer review as being deeply flawed in that it operates within a closed and opaque system in which it is impossible to trace the discussion and any changes made to original research during the process, as well as the decision process leading to publication. This means that at its worst peer review is often seen as being detrimental to research by providing a closed mechanism to protect the status quo and suppress research which is viewed as radical or innovative ..."