Braun Tibor, Schubert András (szerk.): Szakértői bírálat (peer review) a tudományos kutatásban : Válogatott tanulmányok a téma szakirodalmából (A MTAK Informatikai És Tudományelemzési Sorozata 7., 1993)
RUSTUM ROY: Alternatives to Review by Peers: A Contribution to the Theory of Scientific Choice
146 ROY: ALTERNATIVES TO REVIEW BY PEERS beginning to be exasperated by the waste of time required by the system of review by peers. Three alternatives to that system are worthy of consideration. They differ in the extent to which they diverge from the present procedures. All three can be tried simultaneously within a single major grant-awarding body. These alternatives share certain major principles or presuppositions. First, past success is the best basis for the prediction of future performance. Second, the support of small groups or individuals on a continuing basis for the appropriate length of time —let us say, for seven years —increases the probability of success and the efficiency of the system. Third, the most innovative science is done in the context of attaining a broadly defined objective, yet carried out with the minimum of close supervision of the goals, methods or budgetary categories of individual projects. Fourth, co-operation between the very best specialists and the bringing together of their very best experimental capacities js a necessary condition for the advancement of knowledge in fields at the frontier of development. The failure of the universities to make institutional provision for interdisciplinary research is, therefore, seriously damaging to them. 7 Fifth, the advancement of scientific knowledge which goes hand in hand with the advancement of the public interest is the most valuable. All the systems for the allocation of funds for research must reconcile two apparently contradictory requirements: greater freedom for the investigator and greater accountability, not merely for honesty in expenditures but for the goals of research. A Formula for Support based on Productivity assessed by Peers Why should the public support research with no specific mission or goal? Such research carried on at universities has the several functions. It makes new knowledge available to the world at large by publication. It trains students at an advanced level by apprenticeship in research. It establishes a capacity for research —including trained scientists, advanced knowledge and scientific instruments —enabling the university to participate in the more telestic research, i.e. , research linked to a purpose or mission and supported by agencies such as the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Defense. It makes possible research done in support of the private industrial firms which produce a major part of the wealth which goes to the support of research. In keeping with the view that the best guide to the prediction of success is past achievement, financial support should be proportional to the past productivity of the scientist in these four functions. The grants should not be to individuals but to a group, usually of the size of a department or an 7 Roy, Rustum, "Interdisciplinary Science on Campus: The Elusive Dream", Chemical Engineering News. LV (29 August. 1977), pp 28-^0.
