Peer review has traditionally been regarded as central to scientific progress. The scrutiny of scientific papers by other experts in the field is designed to prevent poor quality papers from being published and also to improve those articles that are accepted for publication. It lies at the core of the vast majority of research journals, with those publications that have a more stringent peer-review process generally ending up with a better reputation than those where the barrier for acceptance is low.
But peer review has its limitations. It is a slow process, with typically many months passing between submission of papers and their publication. It can also fail to spot fraud, as several high-profile cases in recent years have shown, such as that of the physicist Jan Hendrik Schön, who published a string of papers in high-profile journals that were later found to contain fabricated data. Another issue is that the referees are anonymous, raising the possibility that someone with a vested interest could prevent a paper from being published.
The Internet can help address some of these problems. Using a process known as "open peer review", which would have been practically impossible to implement in the pre-Internet age, scientists can post papers on a dedicated website that allows nominated referees and other interested researchers to add their comments for all to see. Only after this discussion is the paper accepted or rejected. This process offers a number of advantages over conventional peer review, such as increased transparency and an incentive for reviewers to make their comments as constructive as possible. But for many scientists, used to the comforting cloak of anonymity, this transparency seems to be a step too far.
In the January issue of Physics World, Edwin Cartlidge finds out if physicists' pride gets in the way of open peer reviewing, and discovers what effect the process has on their research.
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