The scholarly publishing system is under intense pressure. Researchers face increasing demands to publish, peer review is strained and often invisible, and recognition for scholarly contributions beyond traditional articles remains limited. Moreover, with the rapid growth in the use of AI and growing concerns about research integrity, it is increasingly challenging to determine which research outputs can and cannot be trusted.
To address these issues, a coalition of more than 40 stakeholders – including research funders, universities, publishers, platforms and infrastructure service providers – have come together to promote a new vision for research communication based on the Publish, Review, Curate (PRC) model, one that places openness, transparency, community participation, and scholarly judgment at its core.
PRC represents one of the most exciting new developments in scholarly publishing in decades. Under this approach, research outputs are first published prior to any subsequent open review and/or curation. Publishing prior to review means that research findings are made available more quickly – the benefits of which were made clear by the COVID pandemic. Adding open peer review and editorial curation to timely publishing means that readers also gain greater insight into the robustness of research findings, helping to strengthen trust in both the research and the institutions that produce it.
Ludo Waltman, Scientific Director, Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University, President of ASAPbio and one of the driving forces behind the PRC Alliance, said: “For scholarly publishing to remain relevant, we must adopt a more transparent and efficient publishing system; one that ensures rapid access to new research outcomes and that provides open and transparent mechanisms for quality assurance. PRC is such a system.”
Bodo Stern, Chief of Strategic Initiatives at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), added: “Traditional scientific publishing was built for a print world. The PRC model is built for a digital one. By centering transparency and author agency, it ensures that scientists can share their findings at the speed of science.”
Daniela Saderi, Executive Director at PREreview, commented: “I see the Publish-Review-Curate model as an opportunity to rethink scholarly communication and broaden participation in research evaluation. But if we want it to truly shift power rather than reproduce existing structures in a new form, we need to build for decentralization, interoperability, and inclusion, while learning from communities and iterating together”.
Beyond raising the visibility and status of the PRC model, the PRC Alliance will facilitate greater coordination across the diverse PRC community, and explore ways in which like-minded organisations can work together to collaboratively support innovative PRC initiatives.
The PRC Alliance is a joint initiative of COAR and ASAPbio. In the first year of its operation the PRC Alliance will be hosted by COAR as part of the COAR Notify Project.
Notes:
1. See all the members of the Alliance at our new Members page.
2. Contacts:
Robert Kiley, PRC Alliance Coordinator (info@publish-review-curate.org)
Kathleen Shearer, Executive Director, COAR (kathleen.shearer@coar-repositories.org)
Katie Corker, Executive Director, ASAPbio (katie.corker@asapbio.org)