Reviews, Reviewers, and Reviewing: The “Tragedy of the Commons” in the Scientific Publication Process

Abstract

Everybody wants to get a good review but not everybody is willing to give a good review. In my experience, this fact has resulted in a modern-day instance of “the tragedy of the commons” in which everyone seeks a precious common resource (in this case, the scholarship of peer review in scientific publication) but everyone less widely provides it. Editors face an emerging review culture in which many qualified colleagues often seem too busy, too disinterested, or simply too inaccessible to engage with for peer review purposes, and which leads to issues that are, indeed, tragic in the practice of science.