Augmenting Scholarly Publishing: Intelligent Emerging Tools & Trends
Issue #1: The One About Peer Review
Welcome, ScholCom/MedCom peers,
As folks are starting to reel back from all the vibrance of Peer Review Week & the associated conferences in Washington, DC as well as overseas, we thought this to be the perfect opportunity to launch our weekly newsletter, to sum up some π« key highlights π« & (βΒ΄β‘`β) underlying sentiments (βΒ΄β‘`β) .Β
Yes, π scholarly peer review is an age-old practice, but publishing is changing π and π the peer review renaissance is upon us, calling for an immediate transformation π.Β There continues to be need for πͺ de-pressurising the system for researchers & reviewers πͺ Β While most of us are focusing on βοΈ striking a balance between humans and machines in the future of peer review and publishing βοΈ, there is a camp who is π advocating for ending human-dependent peer review π.Β
Thought-provoking articles
Scholarly Peer Review is an Age-Old Practice, But Publishing is Changing: In this interview, Rachel Burley, American Physical Society Chief Publications Officer, reflects on how publishers are attempting to manage the peer review crisis, promoting diversity in peer review, balancing speed and rigor, the transition to Open Access, and the benefits and risks of using artificial intelligence in peer review.
The Peer Review Renaissance: An Urgent Call for Transformation: In this The Scholarly Kitchen (TSK) blog post, TSKβs newest chef, Roohi Ghosh acknowledges the criticisms of peer review but emphasizes its enduring importance in ensuring the credibility of scientific research and suggests a path forward for its improvement. Very much like Science itself Ghosh states, βThis peer review renaissance is not merely a destination but a journey of continual improvement.β
A re-imagined peer review process. Imaged reused under CC BY license from Marcoci et al.
De-Pressurising the System for Researchers: In this opinion piece, Chris Graf, Research Integrity Director at Springer Nature, discusses three key approaches to alleviate the pressure on reviewers. First, improving the digital experience for authors and reviewers through technology enhancements. Second, offering immediate research communication options. Third, diversifying and expanding the pool of peer reviewers, all while upholding research quality and integrity.
Striking a Balance Between Humans and Machines in the Future of Peer Review and Publishing: In this The Scholarly Kitchen (TSK) blog post Dr. Chhavi Chauhan, Director of Scientific Outreach, American Society for Investigative Pathology and Chirag Jay Patel, Head of Sales and Business Development, Americas at Cactus Communications, discuss opportunities of leveraging AI to improve peer review as well scholarly publishing and reflect on emerging careers in this domain. Both Chauhan and Patel agree that every stakeholder in the publishing industry will need to upskill themselves, continually learn about new tools, and be willing to experiment and innovate to effectively leverage AI.
Advocating for Ending Human-Dependent Peer Review: In this The Scholarly Kitchen (TSK) blog post, TSKβs chef Haseeb Irfanullah, a research enthusiast, advocates for eliminating the current human-in-the-loop peer review system to completely rely on AI-based peer review. The author also proposes a five-phase transition plan, acknowledging the challenges of AI bias and limitations. They call for a more balanced approach to technological innovation and suggest collaboration among publishers to ensure a smooth transition.
Aviβs AI Tool Spotlight:Β
Scholarcy
Keeping up with the latest research is tough. Millions of new research articles are published each year. Then thereβs reports, white papers and company documents. Your usual research tools can find the most recent or influential ones, but you still have hundreds of papers on your desktop β and no time to read them. Skimming the abstract doesnβt give you enough insight into how important a paper could be to your work.
Scholarcy, the online article summarizer tool, reads your research articles, reports and book chapters in seconds and breaks them down into bite-sized sections β so you can quickly assess how important any document is to your work.
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Thanks for reading!
Until next week,
Chhavi Chauhan and Chirag Jay Patel
Share your reading recommendations, suggestions and comments: augmentscholpub@gmail.com