Scientist strategies under the spotlight : A game theory-inspired simulation model of peer review

Peer review is the standard evaluation process for scientific publications. Yet, the system often shows inefficiencies and fails to secure publication for high quality papers. This is partly due to the vulnerability of the peer review process to scientists' strategic behaviour. We developed an agent-based model of the peer review process and tested the systemic outcome of different kinds of strategic behaviour of scientists who submit publications and evaluate each other's. Preliminary results suggest that the cost of high quality reviewing may outperform submission quality if scientists are not motivated to striving for excellence. The research has been cofounded by the COST Action "PEERE".