Modeling peer review: an agent-based approach

The peer review system is under severe strain. Corrections have been proposed, but experiments to determine effective measures are difficult to perform. I propose a framework in which alternatives to the current peer review system can be studied quantitatively using agent-based modeling. I implement three possible systems. I show how, all other things being equal, these alternatives produce different results in terms of speed of publication, quality control, reviewers' effort and authors' impact. This modeling framework can be used to test other solutions for peer review, leading the way to an improvement of how science is disseminated.