Reviewers from previous journal submissions
Last updated
Last updated
Did you just write a brilliant peer review for an economics (or social science, policy, etc.) journal? Your work should not be wasted, there should be a way to share your insights and get credit!
Consider transforming these insights into a public "independent evaluation" for . This will benefit the community and help make research better and more impactful. And we can share your work and provide you feedback. This will help you build a portfolio with The Unjournal, making it more likely we'll hire you for paid work and compensate you at the higher rate. And we offer prizes for the best work.
You can do this either anonymously or sign your name.
Here's the fancy way of saying this (thanks Claude.ai):
Journal peer review is critical for assessing and improving research, but too often these valuable discussions remain hidden behind closed doors. By publishing a version of your review, you can: (1) Amplify the impact of your reviewing efforts by contextualizing the research for a broader audience, (2) Facilitate more transparent academic discussions around the strengths and limitations of the work, (3) Get public recognition for your peer review contributions, which are often unseen and unrewarded (4) Reduce overall reviewing burdens by allowing your assessment to be reused, (5) Support a culture of open scholarship by modeling constructive feedback on public research
Many journals explicitly allow reviewers to publish the content of their reviews, with some important caveats. The Publish Your Reviews initiative gathered public statements from several journals and publishers confirming that they support reviewers posting their comments externally. However, they generally ask reviewers to remove any confidential information before sharing their reviews. This includes: the name of the journal, the publication recommendation (e.g., accept, revise, or reject), and any other details the journal or authors considered confidential, such as unpublished data.
For these journals, we are happy to accept and share/link the verbatim content as part of an independent Unjournal evaluation.
But even for journals that have not signed onto this...
Your peer review is your intellectual property, it is not owned by the journal.
However, there may be some terms and conditions you agreed to as part of submitting a referee report. Please consult these carefully.
However, you are still entitled to share your own expert opinions on publicly-shared research. You may want to rewrite the review somewhat. You should make it clear that it refers to the publicly-shared (working paper/preprint) version of the research, not the one the journal shared with you in confidence. As above, you should probably not mention the journal name, the decision. You don't even need to mention that you did review the paper for a journal.
Even if a journal considers the specific review submitted to them confidential, this doesn't prevent the reviewer from expressing their independent assessment elsewhere.
As an expert reviewer, you have unique insights that can improve the quality and impact of research. Making your assessment available through The Unjournal amplifies the reach and value of your efforts. You can publish evaluations under your name or remain anonymous.
Ready to make your peer reviews work harder for science? Visit unjournal.org to see example independent evaluations, find research to evaluate, and submit your own assessment. Contact us anytime at contact@unjournal.org for guidance... We look forward to unlocking your valuable insights!