Google Goes ‘Peer review’ – announcing gpeerreview

Google is always pushing the proverbial envelope and facilitation of new tools. Recently, a peer review tool was created using Google Code called gpeerreview that reflects the rise of social media. From the point of view of academic libraries, web 2.0and open access, gpeerreview looks interesting and worthy of mention here.

**************************First, what is gpeerreview? GPeerReview is a command-line tool that makes it simple to write a review of someone’s work and digitally link them.

Does a peer review model based on social networking ‘a web of trust’ pose issues of concern for you? On the one hand, someone’s credibility may be enhanced by obtaining multiple reviews beyond what was originally obtained. And a holistic view of research can be useful when groups of reviewers collectively provide assessment – one that reflects the collective intelligence of a community.

This is where groups of respected peers, experts and authority figures are connected over a digital web and can even be visualized using link and graph analysis.

**************************However, will this be a secure system or completely open? Doesn’t this idea sound similar to Pagerank given its emphasis on linkages of popularity? What implications do you see for using a tool like gpeerreview for university libraries, academic publishers and other journal-based organizations? ~Dean

References

1. UBC Health Library wiki - Peer review