In a significant step toward transparency in scientific publishing, the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) is implementing a new system to make peer review reports publicly accessible on the websites of its renowned journals, Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell. This initiative aims to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the review, editing, and publishing processes while respecting the anonymity and privacy of authors, reviewers, and editors.
The Plant Cell has published peer review reports as part of the supplemental material accompanying original research articles. However, a notable change is the introduction of a uniform process for formatting and publishing these reports with Plant Physiology original research articles.
The newly introduced peer review reports will closely mirror all comments made by editors and reviewers during the peer review process for each draft of the manuscript, including the authors' responses. To protect confidentiality, the reports will only redact specific Associate or Monitoring Editor names and unpublished data submitted confidentially in response to reviewer comments, as requested by the author.
While the reports will initially be part of the supplemental material, a forthcoming feature will link them directly to the main page of approved articles on the journal websites.
Authors submitting their work to Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell will have the option to choose whether their peer review reports are made public on the journal's website. During the manuscript submission process, authors will be presented with the choice to agree or decline to the publication of their peer review comments. If an author opts against it, their peer review comments will remain confidential in the journal's manuscript submission system.
Reviewers, upon accepting an invitation to review an original research article for either journal, must be aware that their comments, while remaining anonymous, may be publicly released as part of the article's peer review report. Reviewers are not allowed to opt out of this policy, and they are expected to uphold standard peer review practices while providing rigorous analysis and critique.
Editors responsible for managing manuscripts during peer review should also consider that comments received by authors may later be transparently presented as part of a published peer review report. However, the names of individual editors will be redacted. Editors will continue to apply their usual scientific criteria when critiquing and deciding on manuscripts.
In this move toward increased transparency in scientific publishing, ASPB hopes to align with emerging standards and practices, offering journal readers a deeper understanding of the processes involved in reviewing, editing, and publishing scientific research.
ASPB acknowledges the importance of preserving the integrity and confidentiality of the peer review process while enhancing transparency and accountability. This new initiative, which respects the wishes of authors, aims to provide an insightful perspective into the comprehensive evaluation of research articles in Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell, contributing to the scholarly discourse in the field of plant biology.
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