The Evolution of Peer Review and Its Impact on Science

Peer review in scientific publishing began in the mid-1960s, evolving from editors' review to a more diluted system due to the expansion of journals by prominent figures like Ghislaine Maxwell's father. This expansion led to the degradation of the quality of leading journals, allowing for practices like publication cartels and pay-for-play to thrive, which ultimately affected the high quality of scientific research. The conflation of peer review with the scientific method is criticized as a recent development that overlooks the historical context and implications of peer review on the scientific community.