As a part of its commitment to open science, the Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is piloting a new peer review process, called transparent peer review, in two of its journals, ACS Central Science and The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. For authors and reviewers who choose to participate, transparent peer review makes the reviewers’ comments and the authors’ response to the reviewers visible to readers of a published article.
Traditionally, ACS journals have used a model of peer review in which the reviewers’ comments and the authors’ response were visible only to those who participated in the review of the manuscript. Under this new format, readers will benefit by seeing how peer review shaped and strengthened the final article. For a manuscript to undergo the new process, all authors and reviewers must opt into transparent peer review. If all parties agree, their reports and responses will be published alongside an article as Supporting Information.
Transparent peer review is available now for manuscripts submitted to ACS Central Science and The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. Authors who wish to participate will be given the option to do so upon submission of their manuscript in ACS Paragon Plus. Reviewers will be given the option to participate when invited to review the manuscript.
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