And Who Will Review the Review(er)s?

Peer review maintains an implacable presence in the collaborative enterprise of scholarly production. Widely viewed as the “gold standard,” it is considered a requirement for affirming validity and quality, as well as for codifying disciplinary boundaries. As journal editor Richard Smith vividly recalled: “It is the method by which grants are allocated, papers published, academics promoted, and Nobel prizes won. … When something is peer reviewed it is in some sense blessed.”