Open-Access Academic Articles Requires Peer-Review Makeover: Consistency Is the Key
Open-Access Academic Articles Requires Peer-Review Makeover: Consistency Is the Key

Summary/Abstract: The internet has greatly altered the way that people and institutions communicate. Oneof the most recent changes is the growth of the Open Access (OA) model, where researcharticles are provided free of charge to readers online. Such changes are having a dominoeffect on traditional communication. In most cases, articles in professional journals havebeen evaluated by a strict peer-review system. However, due to the inherent problemswith these peer reviews, such as the length of time it takes referees to complete their analysisand the reviewer’s personal biases and potential unethical behavior, there is a growingconsensus that a different review method needs to be developed for OA articles.In addition, the internet has led to the development of many new professional journals,which range from poor to excellent, based on the articles accepted. Unfortunately, somejournals are being published solely for monetary gain from high author fees.Presently, different review methods are being suggested or implemented for articles,such as ranking systems, online commentaries and crowdsourcing, Also, various institutionsare publishing lists that rate academic journals on their quality level. Such experimentationof review models is important. However, after the trial period, the primaryOA sources need to agree on using the same review model. Consistency of evaluationis critical for readers to be able to make objective comparisons of scholastic articles fromone OA site to another.

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