The most common concern raised about the proposed system is how to allow for people (especially students and postdocs) who aren't asked to review very much, and so lack PubCreds through no fault of their own.
Our article notes this issue and suggests 'overdrafts' as a means to deal with it. But many other solutions have been suggested, and there are aspects of this issue which Owen and I did not have the space to address in our article. So I've just posted a blog entry on the PubCred website further discussing this important issue: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fix-peer-review/blog/2594 I summarize many of the alternative suggestions we've received so far on how to address this issue, and highlight the importance of a period of data collection before the PubCred system 'goes live'. I also note that there's often no clear distinction between those who lack PubCreds 'through no fault of their own', and those who have 'only themselves to blame' for their lack of PubCreds. Like any 'bank balance', a PubCred balance reflects both 'income' and 'expenses'. Just because someone has little 'income' doesn't mean they've 'spent' wisely, which makes it a little tricky to choose the best way of helping 'low income' people like students and postdocs.
