Communicating and compromising on disciplinary expertise in the peer review of research proposals

This paper analyses peer review deliberations in four evaluation panels that differ in terms of scope and disciplinary heterogeneity. Based on evaluation reports and discussions with panel members, it illustrates a variety of ways in which reviewers bridge their epistemological differences and achieve consensus on the quality of research proposals. The analysis demonstrates that peer review panels are forums in which communication across disciplinary boundaries occurs and interdisciplinary judgments arise. At the same time, disciplinary gate-keeping and incommensurabilities may set limits on such communication. The comparison of deliberative processes sheds light on how collective judgments are shaped and constrained by the disciplinary set-up of the panels in which the reviewers operate and in which the intersubjective dynamics of the deliberations unfold. Based on these findings, the paper considers conditions that may enhance disciplinary interaction and complementary judgments in the peer review of proposals, and thereby expands the prospects for interdisciplinary research.