Evolution of Sci's Community-Driven Post-Publication Peer-Review

Sci 2019, 1, 16; doi: 10.3390/sci1010016. 1 www.mdpi.com/jou nal/sci Edi o ial E olu ion o Sci's Communi y-D i en Pos - Publica ion Pee -Re iew Claus Jacob 1,*, Ma yn Ri man 2, F anck Vazquez 2 and Ahmad Yaman Abdin 1 1 Di ision o Bioo ganic Chemis y, School o Pha macy, Saa land Uni e si y, Campus B2 1, D-66123 Saa b uecken, Saa land, Ge many; [email p o ec ed] 2 MDPI AG, S . Alban-Anlage 66, CH-4052 Basel, Swi ze land; [email p o ec ed] (M.R.); [email p o ec ed] (F.V.) * Co espondence: [email protected] land.de; Recei ed: 1 Ma ch 2019 / Accep ed: 26 Ma ch 2019 / Published: 27 Ma ch 2019 Since he 1990s, scien i ic communica ion has wi nessed conside able ans o ma ion, d i en by he ad en o echnologies such as web-based publishing, online-con e ences, globaliza ion o he scien i ic communi y, a d ama ic inc ease in scien i ic ou pu , and, in some aspec s, also a changing sel -concep ion o science and scien is s. Today, he dissemina ion o scien i ic ideas is as impo an as inding and es ing hem in he i s ins ance. As philosophe s would say, dissemina ion has become he ul ima e s ep in he adi ional chain o scien i ic disco e y. Wi hin his con ex , publishing has become mo e cen al, echoing bo h he banal “publish o pe ish” and he ee ha has—o has no — allen in he woods o Be keley [1]. The de elopmen s wi nessed in publishing du ing las wo decades a e uly e olu iona y and ha e e en changed he way science is conduc ed. Mode n web-based publishing in Open Access jou nals, o ins ance, enables colleagues o submi and access eely millions o scien i ic manusc ip s om ac oss he globe and a ound he clock. This has b oken down adi ional bo de s—geog aphical, economic, cul u al, and o he wise. Mo eo e , his eedom o scien i ic exchange c ea es global and equal oppo uni ies, and helps o subs an ially dec ease he cos s o scien i ic publishing. A he same ime, o e he pas decade he e has been an explosion in he numbe o jou nals and also in submissions, pushing he en i e pee - e iew p ocess close o collapse. The a ious a emp s—o lack o a emp s— o il e and channel submissions and online publica ions has esul ed in o en supe icial and subjec i e pee - e iewing, and high ejec ions a es o a guably good pape s. The claim ha “we assume ha he e e ee has no ead ou manusc ip p ope ly o a all” has u ned om a a he cu ious anecdo e o a bi e u h. As a esul , “scien ome ic pa ame e s” ha e been in oduced o somehow ank science and scien is s, p e ending o quan i y he unmeasu able, o he despai o any decen philosophe o science [2]. P o essional dissemina ion does no come o ee, and he adi ional “exclusi eness o he eade ship” based on subsc ip ion cha ges has slowly bu s eadily gi en way o an equally, pe haps e en mo e p oblema ic “exclusi eness o he au ho ship” wi h some imes uly as onomical A icle P ocessing Cha ges (APCs) [3]. Fo some colleagues, he p oblem has shi ed om no being able o ead a published a icle, o no being able o co e he cos s o publishing hei own wo k. In he o me case, he manusc ip in ques ion and he science i con ains a e a leas placed on eco d. Today, hese issues o scien i ic dissemina ion con on a ola ile scien i ic communi y, unse led by inancial cons ain s, bogus jou nals, inapp op ia e e e eeing, impac ac o s, and Hi sch indexes. F om hei pe spec i e, publishing should a leas be non-disc imina o y wi h ega d o hei inances. The e iew p ocess should be open, anspa en , ai , and—abo e all— ho ough and p o essional and should also main ain he o iginali y o he au ho s and no u n in o an e o o placa e he Sci 2019, 1, 16 2 o 3 e e ees. Simul aneously, e iewe s should also no go unno iced, and hei ime and e o s should be ewa ded. Thei e iews should be open o app o al and c i ique, p e en ing subjec i e o o he wise “nas y” commen s. In his si ua ion, a “Gedankenexpe imen ” may be app op ia e. Conside he demands o mode n science and scien is s on he one side, and he eno mous possibili ies—and cons ain s—o mode n- day publishing on he o he . Almos ine i ably, a publishing s a egy o he u u e eme ges. I elies on some p o en p ac ices, such as Open Access, ye u he e olu ionizes and, in many aspec s, also democ a izes he publishing p ocess. The jou nal Sci, launched in 2018, aims o con e some o hese ideas in o sus ainable publishing p ac ices [4]. A ecen mee ing be ween MDPI and he epis emological uni o Pha masophy a Saa land Uni e si y who uns he academic “Pu ple Publishing” esea ch p ojec (h p://sci. o/5 8) highligh ed many common objec i es. The e o e we decided o wo k oge he o e ol e Sci u he o apply new ways by which Science can be mo e e icien ly e alua ed by he communi ies, be e communica ed and se e co ec ly he in e es s o he scien i ic communi ies. As pa o his philosophy, any manusc ip —jus like a composi ion by Moza —is seen as an o iginal piece o scien i ic w i ing which e lec s no only he da a, bu also he indi idual in e p e a ion o he au ho s. Such a piece is aluable and should no be ejec ed, and hus p e en ed om dissemina ion, by jus wo o a ew e iewe s. In he cu en adi ional pee - e iew p ocess, he ew in i ed expe s o en ha e li le ime o in e es in hei ask and may ha e been ins uc ed o aim a a high ejec ion a e o keep impac ac o s high and page numbe s low. Such a manusc ip should, ins ead, become widely seen and sc u inized openly by he en i e scien i ic communi y—o a leas by he membe s o he communi y wi h a genuine in e es and expe ise in he manusc ip and i s con en . In ag eemen wi h mode n heo ies o science, he communi y and i s subsequen ac ions—no jus a couple o “undisclosed expe s”—would hen decide i he manusc ip and i s con en a e uly scien i ically sound, impo an , imely, signi ican , and o alue o u he s imula e esea ch and inno a ion. Such an app oach necessa ily equi es publica ion o any decen manusc ip a p io i, i.e., a e i has been submi ed by he au ho s and checked b ie ly o o m, plagia ism, language, and non- o ensi e con en , ye be o e i is e iewed in he adi ional sense. In p ac ice, publica ion be o e e e eeing is echnically possible and, apa om a oiding he ejec ion o po en ially aluable science, has se e al addi ional bene i s. I places he manusc ip on eco d, ensu es ha all pieces o science become a ailable, p o ec s he o iginali y and p ecedence o he au ho s, and ini ia es an open and anspa en e iewing and e ision p ocess a pos e io i. The e iewing i sel commences a e publica ion o he ini ial e sion and by any colleague in e es ed in commen ing. Sci will implemen a “scien i ic ma ke place” s yle o e iewing, in an open and anspa en way whe e he numbe o olun ee and quali ied e iews is no limi ed, and, wi hin a ealis ic ime ame, he au ho s will be able o conside hese e iews and ca y ou e isions. In e es ingly, e iewe s will also no longe go unno iced— hei e iews will be sha ed and app o ed/endo sed by o he s. As pa o his open, anspa en , global and democ a ic e iew p ocess, eme ging scien is s in pa icula , will be able o become in ol ed. Th ough his p ocess, hey can ea n espec wi hin hei espec i e communi y as highly ega ded e iewe s. As always, inno a i e ideas, such as publishing o iginal manusc ip s a p io i and e iewing openly and a pos e io i, will ace some c i icism. P ope implemen a ion equi es con inuous e inemen and de elopmen , aking on boa d cons uc i e eedback. None heless, his app oach owa ds e iewing and publishing gene a es a global playing- ield o equal oppo uni ies, whe e adi ional scien ome ic pa ame e s such as impac ac o s and Hi sch indexes a e no longe needed. In Sci, each manusc ip ecei es i s indi idual a ing by he communi y, which is dis inc om he a ing o he jou nal. Simila ly, he s anding o he au ho s will depend on hei associa ion wi h hei highly a ed manusc ip s and no on hei abili y o publish in high impac jou nals. Re iewe s will also be es eemed by he scien i ic communi y o hei excellen e iews wi hin a comp ehensi e and anspa en ewa ding sys em, a ‘ hank you’ which has long been demanded by he scien i ic communi y. Sci 2019, 1, 16 3 o 3 Indeed, anspa ency and accoun abili y will be achie ed easily by he employmen o s a e-o - he-a echnological solu ions, such as Scip o ile, a ool o iden i y and au hen ica e au ho s and e iewe s and o a oid ake p o iles and au ho s. Fu he mo e, e iews and a ings, commen s and eplies will be ully anspa en , o he bene i o au ho s, e iewe s, eade s and he p og ess o good science. We a e e y exci ed o p esen how we o esee he e olu ion o he jou nal Sci, and o sha e i wi h you. We since ely hope ha his app oach will a ac you a en ion, in e es and, abo e all, app o al. We a e looking o wa d o you submissions, commen s on pos ed manusc ip s, and any o he eedback you may wish o sha e wi h us, ei he a p io i o a pos e io i. Con lic s o In e es : The au ho s decla e no con lic o in e es . Re e ences 1. Be keley, G. A T ea ise Conce ning he P inciples o Human Knowledge. Aa on Rhames: Dublin, I eland 1710. 2. Jones, T.; Hugge , S.; Kamalski, J. Finding a Way Th ough he Scien i ic Li e a u e: Indexes and Measu es. Wo ld Neu osu g,. 2011, 76, 1–2 3. OPENAPC. h ps:// eemaps.in ac -p ojec .o g/apcda a/openapc/#publishe / (accessed on 11 Janua y 2019) 4. Ri man, M; F anck Vazquez, F. Sci—An Open Access Jou nal wi h Pos -Publica ion Pee Re iew. Sci, 2019, 1, 1. © 2019 by he au ho s. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Swi ze land. This a icle is an open access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms and condi ions o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion (CC BY) license (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/).