What is Peer Community In?
Peer Community In is a global community of researchers offering free and transparent peer review of preprints deposited in open archives. Unlike traditional editorial workflows, the review process is entirely free and, when it ends with a positive outcome, is open and transparent, because review results remain traceable and citable.
What are "PCI‑Friendly Journals"?
Many established journals recognize Peer Community In recommendations. If your preprint receives a positive recommendation from PCI, you may submit the work to a PCI-Friendly Journal, which will consider it for publication via an accelerated editorial process. Alternatively, your preprint can be published directly in the Peer Community Journal.
How to proceed
Deposit your preprint in AMS Acta
- Log in to AMS Acta with your university credentials.
- Upload your preprint following the standard procedure, and format your manuscript according to the guidance of the PCI community you intend to approach.
- Complete the metadata (title, authors, discipline, abstract, keywords).
Submit the preprint to Peer Community In
Once your preprint has been validated and published, you will find in the administration page of the document in AMS Acta an option to send it to a community of Peer Community In:
- Select the community most relevant to your research area.
- You will receive an email from the community—follow its instructions and complete your submission, optionally suggesting colleagues who might have appropriate expertise to act as peer reviewers.
Await the evaluation
- Your request will be assigned to a PCI recommender, who will decide whether to proceed with the review. Community experts will examine your work. When reviews are ready, you will receive an email notification with a link to read them.
Receive the results
- If reviewers request revisions, you must upload a new version of your manuscript using “Create a new version” from the deposit management page. Once the new version has been validated and published, you may submit a new review request to the same PCI community. PCI will then start a new round of review based on the revised manuscript.
- If your preprint receives a positive evaluation, AMS Acta will be notified automatically. The evaluation will be visible on the public page of your preprint record, with approval badges and a link to the reviewers’ comments. You will have access to the complete record of the review process.
Proceed to publication
- Publish directly in the Peer Community Journal, or submit the preprint to a PCI‑Friendly Journal to benefit from a simplified editorial workflow.
Benefits for you as a researcher
✓ Speed: your results become visible and evaluated quickly
✓ Transparency: the review process is open and traceable
✓ No cost: no financial barrier to review
✓ Qualified recognition: community evaluation increases your work’s credibility
✓ Visibility: your preprint is indexed and easy to discover
✓ Easier editorial route: if you choose to publish, the pathway is accelerated
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can I still submit my article to a traditional journal after depositing the preprint in AMS Acta?
A: Yes. Most journals accept preprints deposited in open repositories. Check the policy of the journal you intend to submit to.
Q: If my preprint receives a negative evaluation, what happens?
A: Comments will not be visible in either PCI or AMS Acta. You will be able to submit the manuscript to a different PCI community.
Q: Can I submit a preprint simultaneously to a PCI community and to a traditional journal?
A: No, it is not possible to submit the same manuscript to multiple peer review processes simultaneously, whether on PCI or in traditional journals.
Q: Who are the reviewers?
A: Reviewers are experienced researchers in the field who volunteer in accordance with the principles of open science.
For more information
Visit Peer Community In: www.peercommunityin.org
Contact the university technical support for specific questions: almadl@unibo.it
COAR Notify: coar-notify.net