Pear-reviewed journals

This question of peer-review resonates with me because of my social psychology background.  Peer review is capable of judging whether given research meets disciplinary best practices.  However, sometimes disciplinary methods themselves are inadequate.  These inadequacies are not the fault of peer review, per se, but of the discipline itself.  In the case of the Sokal affair, the problem was not the peer review; it was the academic discipline of postmodern cultural studies itself.  When satire slips past peer review it is a sign of sickness in the discipline itself.

Peer review is important; but it is not sufficient.  It can test whether research follows best practice but it cannot advance that established practice or offer more profound commentary.  In my experiences in the experimental sciences, peer review is respected to such an extent that new or non-standard methodologies that have a limited capacity for peer review (because of their novelty) are viewed as suspect.  The rituals of publication may, in fact, be impeding creativity and innovation.

As an aside, I thought I’d include a picture of this spam “pear-reviewed” journal that is soliciting articles.  Your chance to be published!