Reviewing Policy

My policy on pre-publication review of manuscripts:

• I will review a manuscript only if it is posted on a public preprint server. Journal editors and others can recommend such a preprint for review.

• I may post the review alongside the preprint or on my public blog.

• Journal editors and others may use those comments as they see fit.

The arguments for open reviewing have been made very cogently by others [1,2]. My own experience comes from trying to correct a number of blunders in the literature post-publication [3,4,5]. None of those crashes would have happened if the authors had simply posted a preprint before publication. The manuscripts would have been read by those most interested and adept, rather than a few tired and anonymous referees. The errors could have been sorted out quickly and the archival literature would be a cleaner place.