Emerging trends in peer review-a survey

Area of Science:

• Scholarly communication
• Scientific publishing
• Research integrity

Background:

• Classical peer review faces significant criticism regarding publication speed, bias, and reliability.
• Issues include undetected errors, fraud, unethical practices, and lack of reviewer recognition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To survey and analyze innovative peer review mechanisms addressing traditional system flaws.
• To identify trends and the future direction of scientific peer review.

Main Methods:

• Literature review to identify innovative peer review channels.
• Analysis of 82 channels of scientific communication and their review mechanisms.

Main Results:

• Two major trends observed: rise of preprint servers bypassing traditional peer review and growth of non-selective review.
• Emergence of open review, interactive review, post-publication review, and reader commentary.
• Significant disciplinary differences in peer review processes persist.

Conclusions:

• The future of scientific peer review is likely continued diversification, with various mechanisms serving different needs.
• Further quantitative research is needed to assess the impact of these innovations on identified problems.