As demands on the peer review system are increasing, reviewers are simultaneously becoming less responsive to invitations

During this Peer Review Week 2018, Tom Culley shares findings from the new Publons "Global State of Peer Review" report. As demands on the peer review system increase, reviewers are actually becoming less responsive to invitations. Meanwhile, researchers from established regions such as the USA, UK, and Japan continue to review significantly more than their counterparts from emerging regions such as China, India, and South Korea, with such a regional disparity arguably harming the development of non-Western researchers. Greater recognition, training, and transparency are needed to bring a level of trust and efficiency to the peer review process, and this needs to come from across the scientific divide.