The traditional “Peer Review” of scientific manuscripts by two anonymous experts to evaluate scientific results worked well in a paper-based system. As the speed of research and communication continue to increase with the power of the internet, new modes of evaluation have become both necessary and possible. Spectacular failures of the anonymous review system even in highly prestigious journals has clearly demonstrated that many eyes find errors more effectively than few. To create a more effective, transparent and fairer system we developed the networking and publishing platform ScienceOpen.
The researcher, not the journal, is at the center of the ScienceOpen concept. The system provides extensive opportunity to develop a personal profile and network with other scientists. This network then forms the basis for a public post-publication peer review, because we believe that an open network approach is much more rigorous quality control than two anonymous referees behind closed doors. Articles published on ScienceOpen are published rapidly after an editorial check, followed by an open, transparent peer review process. A unique versioning concept allows the researcher to continue to improve his published work based on comments and reviews by scientists in the field.
An article published on ScienceOpen is also placed within the wider context of all Open Access publications in its field as ScienceOpen aggregates Open Access content from a variety of sources, opening them up to discussion with the same tools for commenting, sharing and discovery. With this holistic concept ScienceOpen provides high-quality open access publishing services, while redefining publishing as one element in a whole suite of communication tools available to the researcher.
Scholarly publishing is not an end in itself, but the beginning of a dialogue to move the whole field forward.
For more information, visit the ScienceOpen web site.
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