Background

• Professor of Literature, Technology & Publishing
• Founder and CEO of the Open Library of Humanities
• Author of Open Access and the Humanities (Cambridge UP)
• Author of two open-access books (and two non-OA books)
• BOAI working group & HEFCE OA Monographs
• UK parliament evidence

Peer Review and the Humanities: Some questions

• Same purpose as in natural sciences?
• Urgency of work?
• Abuses of power?
• How good are we at gatekeeping?

Peer Review and the Humanities: Some practices

• Often double-blind
• Preprint culture developing far more slowly (if at all)
• Conservative culture claims peer-review as gold standard
• Books: proposals only? Full text?

Open Peer Review: Some challenges

• Anonymity:
• Double-blind: abusive language
• Author known, reviewer unknown: abuse of power
• Author unknown, reviewer known: abuse of power
• Open: fear of criticism / fear of exposure
• Participation
• Time constraints