Applying Expert Review to All Research Outputs

Goals

  1. Create peer review solutions that can assess research at all points in the research cycle
  2. Provide certifications to demonstrate that a preprint or other output has changed state to become a “refereed preprint”
  3. Provide credit to researchers who participate in the peer review of preprints

Champion

Damian Pattinson
Damian Pattinson
eLife Sciences Publications

Description & Deliverables

Peer review has been the primary domain of journals since the activity was first formalized over 50 years ago. But as science has become more open, and journal submission only one of a number of ways in which research findings are shared, there is a growing need to apply the rules and operations of peer review to these new outputs. Datasets, protocols, early findings, even hypotheses and experimental plans would all benefit from external, objective review so that research can be improved earlier, and corrections made while work is still being carried out.

The goal of this project is to apply the tools of peer review to all research outputs, using the workflows and systems that are being developed to referee preprints at organizations such as eLife and PREreview. The goal is to offer a lightweight, ‘turnkey’ peer review solution to research outputs of all kinds, and provide credit to researchers who take part in these activities.

Deliverables

  • Peer review management software that has been built to manage the review of open outputs such as preprints
  • Standardized workflows that can be applied to the review of any research output
  • Certifications that show that work has been peer reviewed, and that reviewers and editors have conducted the review to a high standard

What’s Needed

  • Participating communities who are willing to experiment with new forms of peer review [Research Institutes such as Arcadia Science are exploring alternatives to publishing in journals, and so other forms of assessment may provide the independent feedback that journal peer review currently offers]
  • Adoption of certifications from funders and research institutes, so that credit can be assigned to participating researchers and communities

Links

Supporters

Kristen Ratan, Sarah Greene