Projects per year
Abstract
Despite being coined only in the early 1970s, ‘peer review’ has become a powerful rhetorical concept in modern academic discourse, tasked with ensuring the reliability and reputation of scholarly research. Its origins have commonly been dated to the foundation of the Philosophical Transactions in 1665, or to early learned societies more generally, with little consideration of the intervening historical development. It is clear from our analysis of the Royal Society's editorial practices from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries that the function of refereeing, and the social and intellectual meaning associated with scholarly publication, has historically been quite different from the function and meaning now associated with peer review. Refereeing emerged as part of the social practices associated with arranging the meetings and publications of gentlemanly learned societies in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Such societies had particular needs for processes that, at various times, could create collective editorial responsibility, protect institutional finances, and guard the award of prestige. The mismatch between that context and the world of modern, professional, international science, helps to explain some of the accusations now being levelled against peer review as not being ‘fit for purpose’.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 863 |
Pages (from-to) | 863-889 |
Journal | The Historical Journal |
Volume | 61 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 16 Nov 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2018 |
Keywords
- Peer Review
- Scientific journals
- Scientific publishing
- Royal Society
- Research evaluation
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'The Royal Society and the prehistory of peer review, 1665-1965'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Publishing the Philosophical Transaction: Publishing the Philosophical Transactions: the social, cultural & economic history of a learned journal 1665 - 2015
Fyfe, A. (PI), McDougall-Waters, J. (CoI), Moxham, N. J. (CoI), McDougall-Waters, J. (Researcher), Moxham, N. J. (Researcher) & Rostvik, C. M. (Researcher)
Arts and Humanities Research Council
1/05/13 → 31/08/17
Project: Standard
Profiles
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Aileen Fyfe, FRSE, FRHistS, FHEA
- School of History - Professor of Modern History
- St Andrews Institute of Intellectual History - Associate Director
Person: Academic
Research output
- 1 Web publication/site
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What does peer review do?
Fyfe, A., 9 Nov 2018Research output: Non-textual form › Web publication/site
Open Access