Can open peer review work? Biology Direct suggests it can… - BioMed Central blog

abernard102@gmail.com 2013-05-13

Summary:

"Peer review is a process integral to the scientific research cycle, and, for the majority of biology journals, one that takes place behind closed doors. In conventional blind peer review, reviewers remain anonymous to the authors, and their comments are not made available once a paper is published. The closed nature of this review can have its problems: high-profile commentaries on lengthy, iterative review calling for an end to ‘the tyranny of reviewer experiments’ and ‘painful publishing’ have generated much discussion on the issue in recent years. But can one of the touted solutions to the problem, namely opening up the peer review process for all to see, work in practice? Biology Direct launched 7 years ago as a community experiment in open peer review, whereby both the names of the reviewers, and their comments, are included in the final publication. As Editors-in-Chief Eugene Koonin, Laura Landweber and David Lipman put it in their launch Editorial, their aims were ‘unapologetically ambitious’: 'to establish a new, perhaps, better system of peer review and, in the process, bolster productive scientific debate, and provide scientists with useful guides to the literature' Their logic was as follows – scientific debate at conferences is priceless in providing fresh perspectives and directions, and while discussion can be heated, academics are required to stand by the comments they make. Without the veil of anonymity, responsibility is increased – why not apply the same rubric to the peer-review process? Other progressive policies of the journal include inviting the authors to select reviewers from the Editorial board, and allowing the author, rather than an Editor, to decide whether to publish a paper in light of the reviewer comments. Now in its 8th year, the journal is reorganising and expanding its scope, and in an Editorial to announce the changes, the Editors-in-Chief take a look a back at the successes, and challenges, that this open peer-review scheme has met with. Anecdotally, their discussions with scientists support the impression that Biology Direct has become a well-known forum for constructive, open discussion of new results and ideas, with readers often turning first to the exchange between authors and reviewers. The quality of research published in the journal is also clear, Biology Direct has been recognized twice in the BioMed Central Annual Research Awards, most recently for Geoffrey Diemer and Kenneth Stedman’s discovery of a novel virus genome from an extreme environment which received the overall award. The journal is also well accessed and cited – suggesting that concerns that this model would compromise the quality of research published are not substantiated. The successes have led to the expansion and reorganisation of the journal ..."

Link:

http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2013/05/02/can-open-peer-review-work-biology-direct-suggests-it-can/

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.biology oa.new oa.gold oa.peer_review oa.quality oa.bmc oa.journals oa.announcements

Date tagged:

05/13/2013, 07:48

Date published:

05/13/2013, 03:48