================= HES POSTING ================= [Perhaps of interest to some on this list. Feel free to cirulate the announcement on other lists.--RBE] GLOBAL CYBERCONFERENCE ON PEER REVIEW IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Friday, 28 May to Thursday, 10 June 1999 Steve Fuller is pleased to announce the forthcoming global cyberconference on peer review in the social sciences. Anyone who receives this message is invited to join. For entry to the conference website, go to http://www.sciencecity.org.uk/cyberconference.html The conference will officially begin and end at midday, London time, but it may be extended, depending on the level of participation. Those not familiar with the cyberconference format should consult the website of the last such conference organized, which was on public understanding of science: http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dss0www1/ The conference is dedicated to the standard mode of evaluation of proposed and completed work in the academy, namely, other academics who have proven themselves in similar or related areas of research: peers in that sense. The contexts of evaluation include both resource allocation agencies and publication outlets. Although peer review processes have been subject to much study and debate by social scientists, journal editors and policymakers, attention has been focussed primarily on the natural, especially biomedical, sciences. The social sciences themselves have been much less studied, yet research in these areas is increasingly subject to peer evaluation, both at the point of resourcing and of publication. The cyberconference aims to canvass a broad spectrum of views on how well peer review works in a variety of settings, practical suggestions on how to incorporate traditionally excluded groups, how to improve the accountability of the review process and how to enable the process to support better research. Each of these issues will be framed by a provocative set of statements to which contributors may respond with their own experiences, research or considered opinions. General topics include: Who counts as a peer?: beyond the old boys network. How to extend peer review -- can it be made to incorporate larger societal interests? The ethics of peer reviewing -- how to avoid intellectual property theft? The structure of accountability in peer review -- what should reviewers and reviewed know about the process? How does one peer evaluate international, interdisciplinary and critical work? Do the social sciences pose special problems for peer review? The conference is premissed on the idea that peer review in the social sciences is worth salvaging in some form -- the question being what form. But even if you are altogether opposed to the use of peer review or if your concerns stem mainly from outside the social sciences, you should nevertheless feel free to contribute. You will have the option of concealing your identity in your postings. You may also contribute links to other websites and texts that are relevant to the topic. Moreover, it may be possible to get e-mail notification of topics of interest to you, once you subscribe. (We are still working on this facility.) The results will be archived and made available to all researchers to use as they see fit. This cyberconference is sponsored by the United Kingdoms Economic and Social Research Council and will be conducted from the server at the Science Policy Support Group, London. The texts framing the terms of this cyberconference were written by Steve Fuller, Professor of Sociology, University of Durham, UK. He is solely responsible for their content and may be contacted at [log in to unmask] For information concerning the technical side of the cyberconference, contact [log in to unmask] ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]