Opening peer review in Algerian universities: Survey of The Faculty at The Institute of Library Science and Documentation – University AbulKacem SaadAllah- University of Algiers II

Abstract

(Watch the RECORDING.)

Peer review has been a cornerstone of science since the first academic journals back in the mid-17th century. The amount of knowledge produced in those early days did not warrant a strict implementation as what was to be published surpassed journal capacity to absorb. Fast forward some three centuries later, the situation changed wholly and (thanks to the successive information overloads), space to publish shrunk drastically and there was to be a filter both quantitative and qualitative to choose what to publish. Having been described as “the linchpin about which the whole business is pivoted “ (Ziman 1966), peer review has been subject to endless critics and has yielded an abundant literature. From sexist, biased, unreliable to prone to manipulation and countless other “accusations”, peer review has been at the centre of a myriad of cases where science and good behaviour did not go hand in hand. The main reason for the situation was (and still is in most cases) the secrecy in which the process is done. Shielded from accountancy, the expert could act as he (or she) pleases and come out unscathed. With the Internet and its proclivity to openness, the idea of opening the process became a reality and was seen as a remedy, an antidote to the previously stated ills. Numerous sites (such as Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, F. 1000, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Biology Direct, etc …) used different approaches opening the process with mixed result. In this presentation, we will conduct a survey at The Institute of Library Science and Archive - University of Algiers II to see what does the faculty knows, thinks and how it approaches the process. In an Institute specializing wholly in Library Science and its adjunct fields, it would be interesting to see what does its faculty know and think of the process. This will be done by a questionnaire that will explore different aspects of a process that is not only new but also mysterious for many. The different experiments having been all launched and tested in The Global North, our presentation will try to analyze what researchers from a Global South country know and understand in a new (and revolutionary) process that thrives to open itself but also open new horizons to researchers in need to participate, be known, be seen by the whole community worldwide and not be confined to a role of being judged versus a role of being a judge in a world that is trying to be as inclusive as possible.