JOIN17th Century
Peer Review’s Earliest Roots
Status
No formal peer review yet—just editorial judgment.
Milestone
1665: Philosophical Transactions begins publishing.
Editor Henry Oldenburg evaluated and chose which papers to publish—introducing early editorial assessment.
Significance
Established the idea that scientific claims should be evaluated before dissemination—a foundational step toward peer review.
18th Century
Toward Collective Judgement
Status
No formal peer review yet—but the idea of scientific judgment by community began to take root.
Milestone
1751: Franklin publishes Experiments and Observations on Electricity, sharing findings across Europe and the colonies.
Significance
Scientific societies grew in influence. Shared correspondence and critique laid the groundwork for collective evaluation, a key precursor to formal review.
19th Century
Peer Review Begins to Take Shape
Status
Peer evaluation became more common—still informal, inconsistent, and without anonymity.
Milestone
Academic societies and journals proliferated. Manuscripts were increasingly shared with colleagues for feedback before publication.
Significance
Peer review practices emerged organically, but lacked standardization. Review was often by personal correspondence, reinforcing academic networks but limiting objectivity.
20th Century
The Birth of Modern Peer Review
Status
Peer review became widespread and increasingly formalized—especially after WWII.
Milestone
Journals adopted editorial boards, external referees, and anonymous review systems.
Significance
By mid-century, peer review was codified as the norm—central to academic trust, reproducibility, and scientific credibility.
21st Century
An Era of Scale, Speed, and Openness
Status
Peer review remains central to scholarly publishing. At the same time, it is undergoing shifts to create more transparency, accommodate substantial growth in the research enterprise, and address concerns around bias, efficiency, and trust.
Milestone
The 2022 revision of the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME emphasized the importance of clear peer review policies, diversity, and inclusivity in editorial practices.
Significance
Peer review today is being actively reimagined through:
- Transparency: Adoption of open and published peer review models to enhance accountability.
- Technology: Integration of AI-assisted tools to streamline manuscript handling and reviewer selection.
- Inclusion: Initiatives aimed at diversifying reviewer pools and supporting early-career researchers.