Peer review is being asked to handle more submissions, faster, without losing the rigour that makes it worth doing. Can the system scale or does something have to give?<\/p>\n
In this episode of Research and Beyond<\/strong>, host Rebecca Dsouza<\/a> speaks with Maryam Sayab<\/a>, Director of Communications at the Asian Council of Science Editors<\/a> and Co-Chair of Peer Review Week<\/a>, to unpack this year’s theme, “Peer Review Capacity: Volume, Speed and Quality”.<\/p>\n Drawing on her work across research integrity, editorial capacity-building, and global peer review policy, Maryam moves the conversation past the familiar “reviewer shortage” framing to what capacity really means for the system as a whole.<\/p>\n Together, they explore:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd39 How can we encourage more researchers to participate in peer review?<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd39 What role can training and recognition play, particularly for early-career researchers?<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd39 Can AI help address some of the challenges around reviewer capacity?<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd39 And how do we make sure that increasing speed doesn’t come at the expense of thoughtful, rigorous review?<\/p>\n One point that really stood out was that solving the peer review capacity challenge isn’t simply about finding more<\/em> reviewers. It is also about creating the right support, incentives, training, and systems for researchers to engage meaningfully with peer review.<\/p>\n