Research

The Comparative Assessment of Peer Review (CAPR) project is an essential part of the larger research agenda of the Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity (CSID).

In fact, CAPR exemplifies the key elements shared by all CSID case studies:

• CAPR begins with a real-world problem -- the introduction of considerations of societal impact into the peer review process.
• CAPR is complex -- comparing peer review processes is difficult even within an agency; comparing processes at different agencies adds to the complexity.
• CAPR calls for an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach -- no single discipline could hope to grasp all the complexities of peer review.
• CAPR is concerned with knowledge production and use -- peer review plays a key role in deciding what research is actually pursued.

CAPR explores several intellectually stimulating questions:

• what are the nature, scope, and limits of expertise?
• who counts (or should count) as a peer?
• what is the relationship between peer review and accountability?
• what is the relationship between peer review and autonomy?
• what is the relationship between autonomy and accountability?

In addition to exploring these philosophical issues, by tackling the issues that arise with the introduction of societal impacts considerations into the peer review of grant proposals, CAPR can actually help make the world a better place.  We aim to:

• improve the peer review process at public funding agencies worldwide;
• strengthen the link between accountability and autonomy through highlighting this aspect of peer review;
• help society fund both better research and research that is better for society.

CAPR is not only a project of CSID, but it is also part of the larger effort to generate a philosophical approach to the Science of Science Policy.