Peer Review: recent experience and future directions

What are the challenges and opportunities facing peer review in a networked world? We review the state of journal peer review at the end of 2010, beset by ever-increasing volumes of journal articles demanding to be reviewed in ever-shorter times and by a range of criticisms of its effectiveness and value. We consider the opportunities for improvement and review alternative approaches including open and post-publication review and the possible use of article-level metrics as a replacement. We conclude that far from being in crisis, peer review has remains widely supported and diversely innovative.