The current system of publishing in the biological sciences is notable for its redundancy, inconsistency, sluggishness, and opacity. These problems persist, and grow worse, because the peer review system remains focused on deciding whether or not to publish a paper in a particular journal rather than providing (1) a high-quality evaluation of scientific merit and (2) the information necessary to organize and prioritize the literature. Online access has eliminated the need for journals as distribution channels, so their primary current role is to provide authors with feedback prior to publication and a quick way for other researchers to prioritize the literature based on which journal publishes a paper. However, the feedback provided by reviewers is not focused on scientific merit but on whether to publish in a particular journal, which is generally of little use to authors and an opaque and noisy basis for prioritizing the literature.
Further, each submission of a rejected manuscript requires the entire machinery of peer review to creak to life anew. This redundancy incurs delays, inconsistency, and increased burdens on authors, reviewers, and editors. Finally, reviewers have no real incentive to review well or quickly, as their performance is not tracked, let alone rewarded. One of the consistent suggestions for modifying the current peer review system is the introduction of some form of post-publication reception, and the development of a marketplace where the priority of a paper rises and falls based on its reception from the field (see other articles in this special topics). However, the information that accompanies a paper into the marketplace is as important as the marketplaces mechanics. Beyond suggestions concerning the mechanisms of reception, we propose an update to the system of publishing in which publication is guaranteed, but pre-publication peer review still occurs, giving the authors the opportunity to revise their work following a mini pre-reception from the field. This step also provides a consistent set of rankings and reviews to the marketplace, allowing for early prioritization and stabilizing its early dynamics. We further propose to improve the general quality of reviewing by providing tangible rewards to those who do it well.
Introduction
To begin, it is important to understand the scope and purpose of this paper. First, this paper is an attempt to describe the problems with scientific publishing as it is currently instantiated. We are both cognitive neuroscientists, and while some of the issues discussed in this paper are undoubtedly applicable to a wide array of fields they are most directly applicable to the fields of psychology and neuroscience. Second, this paper is an attempt to lay out, in a very broad way, the quantifiable and intangible costs and benefits associated with publishing so that both the functioning of the current system and the relative costs of alternatives can be evaluated. To provide some empirical basis we performed an informal survey of colleagues to obtain estimates of some of the costs. Finally, this paper includes a proposal for an alternative form of scientific publishing and post-publication review. This proposal represents our best attempt at defining an improved system that could actually be implemented given the realities of transitioning from the current system. The proposal is quite specific, but that specificity is meant more to serve as a catalyst and basis for discussion than as a final prescription for a new form of publishing.
The paper begins with a brief discussion of the current system from an historical perspective with consideration of its modern function. Following this section is a detailed description of peer review and its tangible and intangible costs and benefits. Based on these analyses we then propose a new system for publishing empirical papers that streamlines the existing system while still serving the purposes of modern publishing. We then address the cost and benefits of this new system relative to the current system and lay out the remaining open questions.
