Many researchers see promise in preprint reviews—which represent a radical shift in scholarly communication—but the widespread adoption of the practice faces some thorny obstacles.
For decades, peer reviewing technical manuscripts before they were published in a journal was a regular duty for senior scientists. But James Fraser, a structural biologist at the University of California, San Francisco , says he hasn’t reviewed a paper for a journal in years. Instead, Fraser and members of his lab focus on reviewing preprint studies that are posted online whenever authors like, bypassing a journal’s peer-review process.
Fraser isn’t alone in seeing promise in preprint reviews, which represent a radical shift in scholarly communication. Some regard preprint reviews as valuable input for journals that might ultimately publish a paper. Others hope reviewed preprints could ultimately take the place of journal publications. But the widespread adoption of preprint reviewing faces some thorny obstacles.
Such lackluster numbers highlight the “massive cultural barriers” in the scientific community to the wider adoption of preprint reviews, said Catriona MacCallum, a former journal editor who is now director of open science at the publisher Hindawi. Some academic scientists, for example, are reluctant to review preprints because that labor isn’t counted in tenure or promotion decisions, unlike journal reviews.
To date, the volunteers have posted more than 300 full reviews. They also penned about 400 less-intensive “rapid reviews” by answering 12 yes-or-no questions, such as “Are the principal conclusions supported by the data and analysis?” PREreview is now working to broaden its reach, by setting up agreements with preprint sites to relay author requests for reviews.
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