I would say that part of the problem is also that there are too many journals competing for reviewers (and readers). As an example, at the end of the article by Jeremy Fox and Owen L. Petchey there is an advertisement for a new peer-reviewed ESA journal (Ecosphere Online) to be launched soon. Therefore, the problem is not only about authors not doing their reviewing obligations, but also about publishers trying to sell too many publications.
On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Anna Renwick <[email protected]> wrote: > But what is there aim at the moment - surely the same argument could apply > and that they don't assign enough time etc because they get nothing for it. > > Dr Anna R. Renwick > Research Ecologist > British Trust for Ornithology, > The Nunnery, > Thetford, > Norfolk, > IP24 2PU, > UK > Tel: +44 (0)1842 750050; Fax: +44 (0)1842 750030 > > > > Registered Charity No 216652 (England & Wales) No SC039193 (Scotland) > > Company Limited by Guarantee No 357284 (England & Wales) > > Opinions expressed in this e-mail are not necessarily those of the BTO. > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Amartya Saha > Sent: 22 July 2010 16:09 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] fixing peer review - elegant new proposal and > petition > > Its a good idea; however there is a possibility of the quality of > reviews deteriorating, whereby reviewers may not assign the time and > effort required for an indepth review, as their main aim would be to > get as many "PubCreds" as possible. > cheers > Amartya > > > Quoting Jeremy Fox <[email protected]>: > >> The peer review system is breaking down and will soon be in crisis: >> increasing numbers of submitted manuscripts mean that demand for reviews > is >> outstripping supply. This is a classic "tragedy of the commons," in which >> individuals have every incentive to exploit the "reviewer commons" by >> submitting manuscripts, but little or no incentive to contribute reviews. >> The result is a system increasingly dominated by "cheats" (individuals who >> submit papers without doing proportionate reviewing), with increasingly >> random and potentially biased results as more and more manuscripts are >> rejected without external review. >> >> In the latest issue of the ESA Bulletin (July 2010, v. 91, p. 325), Owen >> Petchey and I propose a classic solution to this classic tragedy: >> privatizing the commons. Specifically, we propose that instead of being > free >> to exploit the reviewer commons at will, authors should have to "pay" for >> their submissions using a novel "currency" called PubCreds, earned by >> performing reviews. We discuss how this simple, powerful idea could be >> implemented in practice, and describe its advantages over previously >> proposed solutions. >> >> The article is available at >> <http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/0012-9623-91.3.325>. >> >> Owen and I are very serious about wanting to see this idea, or a suitable >> alternative, implemented. We have set up a petition at >> <http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fix-peer-review/>. Please sign if you >> support this idea, at least enough to want to see it further discussed. > The >> petition site also has a link to the article, and a blog where we'll be >> updating on progress of the idea and responding to comments. >> >> PubCreds are already set to be discussed by the ESA Publications > Committee, >> and by numerous other ecology journals. If you're as frustrated as Owen > and >> I by the recent deterioration of the peer review process, now's the time > to >> speak up and take action. Please sign the petition, and pass it on to your >> colleagues and students. >> > > > > www.bio.miami.edu/asaha >
