Could ‘Peer Community In’ be the revolution in scientific publishing we’ve all been waiting for?

“PCI sets up communities of scientists who publicly review and approve pre-prints in their respective fields, while applying the same methods as those used for conventional scientific journals. Under this peer-review system, editors (known as ‘recommenders’) carry out one or more review rounds before deciding whether to reject or approve the preprint submitted to the PCI. Unlike virtually all traditional journals, if an article is approved, the editor must write a recommendation outlining its content and merits.

This recommendation is then published along with all other elements involved in the editorial process (including reviews, editorial decisions, authors’ responses, etc.) on the site of the PCI responsible for organising the preprint review. This level of transparency is what makes PCI unique within the current academic publishing system.

Lastly, the authors upload the finalised, approved and recommended version of the article – free of charge and on an open access basis – to the preprint server or open archive….

Peer Community Journal is a diamond journal, meaning one that publishes articles with no fees charged to authors or readers. All content can be read free of charge without a pay-wall or other access restrictions. Designed as a general journal, Peer Community Journal currently comprises 16 sections (corresponding to the PCIs in operation) and is able to publish any preprint recommended by a disciplinary PCI….”

PCI is making traditional journal publication obsolete. Due to its de facto peer-reviewed status, the finalised, recommended version of the preprint is already suitable for citation. In France, PCI-recommended preprints are recognised by several leading institutions, review committees and recruitment panels at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). At the Europe-wide level, the reviewed preprints are recognised by the European Commission and funding agencies such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.

PCI is also unique in its ability to separate peer review from publishing, given that approved and recommended preprints can still be submitted by authors for publication in scientific journals. Many journals even advertise themselves as ‘PCI-friendly’, meaning that when they receive submissions of PCI-recommended preprints, they take into account the reviews already completed by PCI in order to speed up their editorial decision-making….”

‘Peer Community In’ May Accomplish What Open Access Could Not | Science 2.0

“PCI sets up communities of scientists who publicly review and approve pre-prints in their respective fields, while applying the same methods as those used for conventional scientific journals. Under this peer-review system, editors (known as ‘recommenders’) carry out one or more review rounds before deciding whether to reject or approve the preprint submitted to the PCI. Unlike virtually all traditional journals, if an article is approved, the editor must write a recommendation outlining its content and merits.

This recommendation is then published along with all other elements involved in the editorial process (including reviews, editorial decisions, authors’ responses, etc.) on the site of the PCI responsible for organising the preprint review. This level of transparency is what makes PCI unique within the current academic publishing system.

Lastly, the authors upload the finalised, approved and recommended version of the article – free of charge and on an open access basis – to the preprint server or open archive….

Peer Community Journal is a diamond journal, meaning one that publishes articles with no fees charged to authors or readers. All content can be read free of charge without a pay-wall or other access restrictions. Designed as a general journal, Peer Community Journal currently comprises 16 sections (corresponding to the PCIs in operation) and is able to publish any preprint recommended by a disciplinary PCI….”

PCI is making traditional journal publication obsolete. Due to its de facto peer-reviewed status, the finalised, recommended version of the preprint is already suitable for citation. In France, PCI-recommended preprints are recognised by several leading institutions, review committees and recruitment panels at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). At the Europe-wide level, the reviewed preprints are recognised by the European Commission and funding agencies such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.

PCI is also unique in its ability to separate peer review from publishing, given that approved and recommended preprints can still be submitted by authors for publication in scientific journals. Many journals even advertise themselves as ‘PCI-friendly’, meaning that when they receive submissions of PCI-recommended preprints, they take into account the reviews already completed by PCI in order to speed up their editorial decision-making….”

PeerJ and Peer Community in

We are delighted to announce that we are extending our “journal friendliness” to all Peer Communities in, or PCIs. Authors that achieve a positive final recommendation from one of the 15 PCIs can now submit to PeerJ or PeerJ Computer Science and, as long as their submission meets our editorial criteriajournal policies and scope, they will be accepted for publication without further peer review.

The 15 PCIs

The PCI association is a not-for-profit and non-commercial organization created in December 2016. Its members are scientists, and it is managed by scientists, for scientists. The 15 communities of researchers review and recommend articles posted on preprint servers and other open-access repositories.

PeerJ has been a PCI friendly publisher for PCI Registered Reports since last year. Being a PCI friendly publisher aligns with our aims and ethos by serving different research communities, responding positively and cooperatively to the way they want to publish their science. We are excited to be a part of this initiative and to be able to offer the communities an option to rapidly publishing their research.

Authors who wish to submit their PCI recommended article to PeerJ should add a note to the “Confidential Information for PeerJ Staff” field stating they have received a positive PCI recommendation and including the DOI of the recommendation. Our team will then work with the author and the PCI Recommender to accept the article without further review, subject to the authors paying the applicable article processing charge or being PeerJ Lifetime Members.

PCI authors who are considering choosing PeerJ to publish their article are welcome to contact the PeerJ Communities Team with any questions before submitting.

We also welcome applications from PCI Recommenders to join our Editorial Board. You can find more details here.

PeerJ and Peer Community in

We are delighted to announce that we are extending our “journal friendliness” to all Peer Communities in, or PCIs. Authors that achieve a positive final recommendation from one of the 15 PCIs can now submit to PeerJ or PeerJ Computer Science and, as long as their submission meets our editorial criteriajournal policies and scope, they will be accepted for publication without further peer review.

The 15 PCIs

The PCI association is a not-for-profit and non-commercial organization created in December 2016. Its members are scientists, and it is managed by scientists, for scientists. The 15 communities of researchers review and recommend articles posted on preprint servers and other open-access repositories.

PeerJ has been a PCI friendly publisher for PCI Registered Reports since last year. Being a PCI friendly publisher aligns with our aims and ethos by serving different research communities, responding positively and cooperatively to the way they want to publish their science. We are excited to be a part of this initiative and to be able to offer the communities an option to rapidly publishing their research.

Authors who wish to submit their PCI recommended article to PeerJ should add a note to the “Confidential Information for PeerJ Staff” field stating they have received a positive PCI recommendation and including the DOI of the recommendation. Our team will then work with the author and the PCI Recommender to accept the article without further review, subject to the authors paying the applicable article processing charge or being PeerJ Lifetime Members.

PCI authors who are considering choosing PeerJ to publish their article are welcome to contact the PeerJ Communities Team with any questions before submitting.

We also welcome applications from PCI Recommenders to join our Editorial Board. You can find more details here.

MPDL is supporting the Peer Community In (PCI) Initiative

Initiated at the request of several Max Planck institutes, the Max Planck Digital Library is supporting the platform „Peer Community in Registered Reports“ by making a one-time funding contribution of 5,000 Euro.

The Peer Community In (PCI) initiative is a non-profit, non-commercial platform that evaluates and recommends preprints in many scientific fields. The overarching aim of this researcher-run organization is to create specific communities of researchers reviewing and recommending, for free, unpublished preprints in their field.

 

PCI Manifesto – Peer Community In

“I agree to submit at least one of my best articles to a PCI for peer review before the end of 2023 and, if recommended, to publish it in Peer Community Journal.”

“I support PCI and adhere to the idea of making Peer Community Journal a widely-used venue for the publication of high-quality articles.”

“I will be bound by this promise only if at least 500 other researchers make the same commitment.” …

“PCI has now been running for five years, and has evaluated and recommended hundreds of high-quality preprints. At the end of 2021, we launched Peer Community Journal, to enable authors of PCI-recommended preprints to publish their articles in an open access journal for free. More than 200 authors have already opted to publish their recommended preprints in Peer Community Journal. This is a first step, but we need to aim even higher for the scientific and academic community to reclaim control over the publication process.

Our goal is for Peer Community Journal to provide an efficient route for open access publication at no cost to authors or readers. The Peer Community In model allows high-quality research to be reviewed and published, while saving the scientific community millions of dollars in subscription and publication fees….”