Why are peer reviewers thinning out, and are there ways to enrich the peer pool?

Abstract

The editorial by Meyer et al. offers a realistic reflection of the challenging state of peer review participation in some journals that hold this task to highest standards. With an increasing publishing market that is still heavily quantitatively driven by publish or perish incentives, a limited or finite peer pool of experienced sports scientists, a peer rewards scheme (Publons) that was decommissioned in mid-2022, and the lack of appetite for open peer review, sports journals are faced with challenging times to try and attract peer reviewers, and keep them incentivized. Absent an equitable trade and career-boosting rewards, the crisis in peer review might not be easily resolved.

Keywords: Academic publishing; Mandatory versus voluntary peer review; Sustainable peer review; Transparency.