Recently several different, unrelated publishers suggested on their websites to join Publons, which is meant to acknowledge referees for peer-reviewing submitted manuscripts.
Publons even suggests to forward them emails to add all your past review work:
We've set up a process to make populating your review record as easy as possible: Search your inbox for "thank you review manuscript" Forward those emails to reviews@publons.com We'll verify and add your reviews to your profile (without showing their content or the title of the manuscripts)
This all sounds very iffy and hence my questions:
- Given their suggestion to forward [confidential] emailexchanges between journal and reviewer, is Publons a scientifically ethically sound initiative?
- Not a hoax?
- If it's ethically OK and not a hoax, what will it yield scientists in the long run, other than a verified referee record? Isn't reviewing expected from every researcher?
Related question on academia SE: Is it worth creating a profile with Publons?
Answer
It is probably legit, as it is owned by the behemoth company Clarivate, which does data analytics on all things science, engineering, and biotech. While it does not seem "unethical", it does seem like a business strategy to get peer review data and do analytics on it for profit.
I added one of my recent reviews, using the publisher's link, to test the site. Unfortunately, it shows the name of the paper that I reviewed in my profile. Although I could delete it, seems like you have to be very mindful about what you post and how you manage it, which equals adding more work to an already overworked schedule.
Peer review is a community service that we perform for the betterment of research. While it is one of the criteria used for academic promotion, it is not the most important, and therefore I do not think is worth the effort of using the site.
No comments:
Post a Comment