Will Journals "Outsource" Peer Review? (January 24, 2012)

Peerage of Science Ltd is a company in Jyväskylä, Finland. Its stated purpose is to "foster and develop the practice of science, as well as the conditions, societal standing and evaluation thereof, while promoting the interests of the researchers registered as users of the Company’s services".

In order to further its "mission" it has chosen as its first order of business to enlist "scientists from 27 countries and over 200 institutions around the world with some 500 scientists (Peers) to provide a pre-submission peer-review service. Currently only the journal Ecography, published by Wiley, is involved in the trial in which participating researchers submit their manuscripts; while other members of the Peer group with appropriate qualifications are alerted by email, and based on keywords asked to volunteer as reviewers. The object is that participating journals will then be notified and can choose to use the reviews in considering the paper. Prior to that, the paper's author(s) can undertake revisions based on the reviews they receive.

In an attempt to avoid bias institutional colleagues and co-authors within the past three years are barred from reviewing the submission.

As an incentive to take on reviewing, researchers receive one credit for a  review and this allows uploads of two manuscripts for every review in return.

Although currently Peerage of Science is offered free, if it catches on with enough journals, it will become fee based but in such a way so as to be lower than the costs publishers bear in arranging and coordinating the current peer review system.

Its founders are a postdoctoral fellow and two professors at the University of Jyväskylä and according to one of the founders, Janne Kotiaho,  who says they have had some significant interest nevertheless admits: "I have experienced that the scientific community is rather conservative and reluctant to change. Most editors first want to know if the service works and let others do the pioneering."