Researcher leads drive for peer reviewing to be paid assignment

Life is full of choices! The thing is, you don't have to do it. I simply politely decline. There are plenty of other people who will review for free which weakens the overall case. They perhaps have a view of academic life as a vocation, a calling, with implied responsibilities. It isn't. It's a job, just a job. Jobs are done for money, unless the individual chooses to do it for free. Sure I have spent plenty of evenings and weekends reviewing papers for high priced journals, for free. Did that bring me any benefit? No, I just spent less time with the family, less time playing with my son, les time in healthy recreation. Good luck with the "450" movement though. My day-rate is higher that that!

I never looked at my academic career as a job, it has been incredibly satisfying, and as the saying goes I never worked a day in my life. I am not surprised that people in industry would be mercenary about the peer review process, as a CSO I don't suppose he publishes any papers so it would be a bit of a chore. For those of us who publish it is a courtesy to review at least one manuscript for each one we publish. Editors should be more discerning about who they send manuscripts to for review. You want someone who currently publishes and is current with the field.

I tend to agree with Philip Nash. I am happy to do paper reviewing in work time when I'm being paid anyway as my university along with most others, I suspect, regards it as a legitimate part of my job, along with sitting on various committees for outside bodies. Still, if people want to be paid it is fine for them to ask- the publishers are commercial organisations after all.

I tweeted comments about this when Mr Heathers sent out his original tweets. In the late 1970s and 1980s I was a managing editor running peer review for journals at a UK publisher. There was a budget offered by the publisher, and every article referee was paid, as well as every book reviewer. It was the academic editors and editorial boards who Put a stop to this, feeling that filthy lucre should not be involved in the self-perceived ‘good citizenship’ of their academic community responsibilities. For 30 years until I retired recently as journals Publishing Director of one of the ‘Big 4K’ commercials, every time I asked an editorial board at annual business meetings whether they wanted to introduce paid peer reviewing, and that budgets could be provided for this, they were aghast at the suggestion. Well, all but a few economists and medics! This initiative is doomed to failure because of the academic and scientific culture in many subject areas.