Peer Review Program Guidelines

We are committed to restructuring the current incentives that exist in academia. One step towards this to compensate peer reviewers for their contributions to the body of research.

At ResearchHub, our mission is to open and accelerate science. Unlike traditional journals where editors assign reviewers, ResearchHub allows qualified reviewers to self-select papers, creating an open marketplace for peer review. This community-driven model fosters transparency, faster feedback, and broader participation in the scientific process.

This guide will walk you through signing up, finding papers with peer review bounties, writing peer reviews, and receiving compensation.

Peer Review Program Application

Sign Up

  • Visit ResearchHub: Click the “Join ResearchHub" tab in the top left corner.

  • Register: Enter your email address or register using your Google account.

  • Complete Your Profile: Fill in information such as your bio, education, social media links, and ORCID.

  • Identity Verification: Peer Reviews on ResearchHub are permissionless. To enhance the credibility and visibility of your contributions, you are requested to verify your identity on the ResearchHub platform. Verified authors:

    • Receive a verified badge

    • Get immediate access to their RSC

    • Can claim RSC rewards on their papers

    • Receive alerts for bounty opportunities

  • Publication Import: You can easily import your publications using our streamlined workflow—ensuring your profile accurately reflects your scholarly work. Be sure to claim rewards on your recent open-access papers, too.

Find Preprints to Review

On ResearchHub, you can review any preprint of your choice by browsing existing preprints or uploading a preprint from a preprint server (e.g., biorxiv, medrxiv, chemrxiv, arxiv).

Some preprints already have bounties—e.g. BioRxiv preprints are assigned a peer review bounty of $150 in RSC by the editorial team.

  • Browse New Preprints.

    • ResearchHub automatically pulls in new preprints as they become public.

  • Search for Bounties.

    • You can search the Earn tab for open peer review opportunities and filter by your preferences.

  • Propose Your Preprint of Choice.

    • Submit a request to review a preprint of your choice. The editorial team will review all submissions; pre-approval is required.

Write a Peer Review

Do I Need Approval to Peer Review? No. Peer reviewing does not require any permission to complete. Our editors evaluate all peer reviews to verify quality before payment is disbursed.

  • Navigate the Paper’s Page. Explore the tabs: Paper, Conversation, Bounties, and Peer Reviews.

  • Start Writing Your Review. Use the text box on the Peer Reviews tab. Organize your review using the provided rating boxes: Overall Rating, Methods, Impact, Results, and Discussion. Be sure to assign a star rating for each.

  • Be Professional and Constructive. Your reviews are visible to everyone, including the authors. Provide professional and constructive feedback.

  • Do not summarize the preprint. Authors and editors are already familiar with the content—focus your review on evaluation, not repetition. Highlight strengths, identify weaknesses, and provide constructive feedback that helps improve the work.

  • AI in Peer Review. Peer reviewers may not use AI to generate or write their reviews. AI use on ResearchHub is limited to copy editing human-written text and must be fully disclosed. It’s your perspective as a scientist that makes peer review valuable, so please write in your voice. Make sure your review complies with our policy.

AI Policy

  • Follow Editorial Standards. The recommendations below list expectations from our editorial team to peer reviewers regarding individual sections of the peer review process. Additionally, they serve as a tool to eliminate bias and enhance the quality of peer reviews.

Unified Recommendations to Peer Reviewers

What Makes a Peer Review Outstanding?

  • Be Specific. Provide detailed feedback, referencing specific figures, discussion points, or methods. Suggest relevant research, alternative approaches, or future experiments.

  • Maintain Transparency. Clearly state your expertise and acknowledge any uncertainties.

  • Be Critical Yet Constructive. Offer thorough and balanced critiques, paired with actionable suggestions for improvement.

  • Demonstrate Rigor. Address significant issues comprehensively while maintaining a constructive tone.

We recommend perusing these examples of exemplary peer reviews on ResearchHub

  1. A novel human blood-brain barrier model reveals pericytes as critical regulators of viral neuroinvasion. Reviewed by Hao Yin.

  2. DuoHexaBody-CD37 induces direct cytotoxic signaling in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Reviewed by Xiaowei Wu.

  3. Dyr726, a brain-penetrant inhibitor of PI3Kα, Type III receptor tyrosine kinases, and WNT signalling. Reviewed by Srividya Bhaskara

  4. Loss of signaling fidelity between astrocyte endfeet and adjacent cerebral arterioles in an amyloid mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Reviewed by Connor Wander.

  5. Organoid-based modeling of platinum resistance identifies KRT17 as both a response mediator and biomarker for targeted therapy in ovarian cancer. Reviewed by Gokhan Bahcecioglu.

Receive Payment

Conditions Peer reviews must meet all guidelines to qualify for payment. The top two highest quality reviews per paper, as determined by our editors, will receive payment. All decisions by the editorial team on payments are final.

Timeline Payment is typically made within 7 days, depending on the editors’ turnaround time or if any modifications are requested of you as the reviewer. Please note that our editorial team performs manual quality review checks on all peer reviews.

Amount You will always receive $150 in ResearchCoin (RSC) at the time of distribution regardless of the price of RSC paid directly to your ResearchHub account. This is why you may see varying amounts of RSC per review. For example:

  • If RSC = $1, you will receive 150 RSC

  • If RSC = $.10, you will receive 1500 RSC.

Using RSC We encourage users to use RSC on our platform to fund research, create bounties, tip users, and pay for DOIs.

Converting RSC to Cash If you would like to convert RSC to cash (USD or other currencies), you can learn more on our blog post.

Need Help?

Attend an Orientation Session.

Please join our weekly orientation sessions where we discuss the ResearchHub platform, the peer review process, and answer any questions you may have.

Request a Certificate of Peer Review.

If you’re interested in receiving a certificate from ResearchHub, please email [email protected].

Contact our Team.

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