Gamifying peer-review? | chorasimilarity

"Fact is: there are lots of articles on arXiv and only about a third published traditionally (according to their statistics). Contrary to biology and medical science, where researchers are way more advanced in new publishing models (like PLoS and PeerJ, the second being almost green in flavour), in math and physics we don’t have any other option than  arXiv, which is great, the greatest in fact, the oldest, but … but only if it had a functional peer-review system attached. Then it would be perfect! It is hard though to come with a model of peer-review for the arXiv. Or for any other green OA publication system, I take the arXiv as example only because I am most fond of. It is hard because there has to be a way to motivate the researchers to do the peer-reviews. For free. This is the main type of psychological argument against having green OA with peer-review. It is a true argument, even if peer-review is made for free in the traditional publishing model.  The difference is that the traditional publishing model is working since the 1960′s and it is now ingrained in the people minds, while any new model of peer-review, for the arXiv or any other green OA publication system, has first to win a significant portion of researchers. Such a new model does not have to be perfect, only better than the traditional one. For me, a peer-review which is technical, open, pre- and post- “publication” would be perfect. PLoS and PeerJ already have (almost) such a peer-review. Meanwhile, us physicists and mathematicians sit on the greatest database of research articles, greener than green and older than the internet and we have still not found a mean to do the damn peer-review, because nobody has found yet a viral enough solution, despite many proposals and despite brilliant minds.  So, why not gamify the peer-review process? Researchers  like to play as much as children do, it’s part of the mindframe requested for being able to do research. Researchers are driven also by vanity, because they’re smart and highly competitive humans which value playful ideas more than money.  I am thinking about Google Scholar  profiles. I am thinking about vanity surfing. How to add peer-review as a game-like rewarding activity? For building peer communities? Otherwise? Any ideas?  ..."