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Community Peer Review: A Step Toward a More Inclusive and Transparent Future
Traditional peer review has long been considered the gold standard in scholarly publishing. Yet, it is not without its limitations. The closed, journal-centric model often restricts transparency, delays the dissemination of findings, and may unintentionally favor certain networks or established voices over early-career researchers and diverse perspectives. These limitations highlight the need to explore new models that can complement the traditional approach.
- Studies show that traditional peer review is slow and often fails to detect serious problems in scientific rigor. For instance, many published papers still contain improper statistics, missing controls, or insufficient clarity.
- The reliability of peer review is low: reviewers assessing the same manuscript often disagree significantly in their evaluations.
- Bias is real. Research has found that reviewer judgments can be influenced by authors’ prestige, affiliation, language, nationality or gender. For example, a double-blind review (where author and reviewers are masked) tends to result in fewer biases than a single-blind review.
Community Peer Review as an Alternative
Community peer review offers an innovative and promising alternative. Unlike the closed system, it shifts evaluation into a more open, inclusive, and collaborative process. Platforms such as PREreview, Peer Community In (PCI), and Review Commons are leading examples of how this model is being adopted in practice. Each brings a unique strength: PREreview emphasizes inclusivity and training for early-career researchers, PCI fosters independent peer evaluation across multiple disciplines, and Review Commons supports the portability of reviews across journals. Together, these platforms demonstrate that scholarly evaluation can be both rigorous and more democratic.
Recent reports suggest community review systems can dramatically reduce time to feedback. In one example, the author-to-feedback period dropped from around 300 days to 70 days when using community review processes tied to preprint evaluation.
Backing the Case for Reform
| Argument | Supporting Evidence |
|---|---|
| That traditional peer review may unintentionally favor certain networks or established voices over early-career researchers and diverse perspectives | Research in the Research Integrity Journal shows that reviewer bias based on author prestige, affiliation, and nationality is measurable. |
| That community review enhances accountability and broadens participation | Reports from PREreview and studies in “Diversification and Decentralization of Peer Review: Tools That Facilitate” show that open and community platforms increase reviewer pool diversity and transparency. |
Challenges and What Must Be Done
It is important to acknowledge potential challenges. Ensuring quality control in a more open system is not always straightforward. Adoption of community review practices may vary across disciplines. Some fields may embrace it quickly, while others remain cautious. Addressing these concerns through clear standards, reviewer training, and technological support will be essential for success.
For example:
- Reviewer training helps reduce bias and improve the consistency and helpfulness of reviews.
- Clear standards and protocols (for example, guidelines on what community reviewers should evaluate, how, and how feedback is delivered) help maintain rigor.
- Infrastructure and tools (such as machine-readable metadata, persistent IDs, transparent posting of reviews) support interoperability and trust.
Why This Matters
Despite these challenges, community peer review represents a meaningful step toward a more transparent and trustworthy research ecosystem. It does not necessarily replace traditional peer review but can serve as a strong complement, one that enhances accountability, broadens participation, and accelerates knowledge sharing.
As researchers, editors, and institutions consider the future of peer evaluation, community-led models remind us of the importance of inclusivity and openness in science. By embracing such approaches, we can move closer to a publishing landscape that truly reflects the diverse voices and needs of the global research community.
Keywords
Community peer review traditional peer review transparency in research reviewer bias early-career researchers open science platforms peer evaluation innovation scholarly publishing reform
Prof. Dr. Sami Ali Metwally Mohamed is a Professor of Plant Physiology at the National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt. His research focuses on ornamental plants, plant stress physiology, sustainable landscaping, and the role of plants in combating climate change and desertification.
View All Posts by Sami Ali Metwally MohamedDisclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of their affiliated institutions, the Asian Council of Science Editors (ACSE), or the Editor’s Café editorial team.
