The Art of Validating Science: Four Centuries of Peer Review

Abstract

Denis de Sallo, the first editor of the world’s first scientific journal, Journal des Sçavans, wrote the following warning in the inaugural issue, published on January 5, 1665, in Paris: “Our aim is to report the ideas of others without guaranteeing them”. This statement remains relevant in today’s scientific journals, as we have spent nearly four centuries trying to ensure the quality of published information—an endeavor first formalized by Henry Oldenburg, the founding editor of Philosophical Transactions and widely regarded as the father of peer review. Oldenburg embodied all the qualities of a good editor: he published 136 issues of the emerging journal while also experiencing the unintended consequences of his invention. One of the most famous episodes was his conflict with Isaac Newton, who was so uncomfortable with the peer review process that he never published a single research article in the journal, choosing instead to communicate his ideas and findings through books.

Since its inception, the publication of scientific articles has required editors to make three key decisions: to reject manuscripts of low quality, to accept those that are sound and consistent with the methods and results of the time, or to seek the opinion of an expert when a manuscript presents an innovative or potentially controversial idea that challenges the scientific status quo. The peer reviewer thus plays a key, albeit limited, role: assisting the editor in deciding whether a manuscript should be published and, if deemed worthy of publication, providing observations that add value to an already completed piece of work.