UG supports Peer Community In

As of April 2025, the UG is a sponsoring member of Peer Community In (PCI). PCI is a scholar-led, non-profit organization offering peer review, recommendation and publication of scientific articles in open access for free. PCI is currently supported by 160+ universities and research institutions worldwide. This initiative offers a transparent, inclusive and affordable alternative publication model which is in line with the UG’s open science values and objectives. 

How does it work? 

Authors deposit their preprint, data, code in any open repository. They then submit the preprint to one of the thematic PCIs for open peer review. After evaluation by experts in the field, the article may be recommended (following a positive editorial decision made by a recommender based on at least two rigorous peer reviews and after one or several rounds of peer reviews). The recommendations are published in the thematic PCI websites and are fully citable. Authors can then decide to publish their article in Peer Community Journal (for free) or submit it to another journal.

What authors say about PCI

“I was a recommender for PCI, and it was basically like reviewing a paper. I am personally in favour of this approach since I think it is important that all science is openly available and not subject to large open access fees (this makes it unreachable for people from developing countries for example). Moreover, I think research should be judged on methodological accuracy, rather than how exciting the results are. I think PCI achieves these objectives. [...] What I think is interesting is that PCI is clearly focused on quality, since to become a recommender, you actually need to pass an exam. In other contexts, there are no such quality control measures.”
Dr. Marieke van Vugt, Associate Professor in Cognitive Modeling (Faculty of Science and Engineering). 

“I see PCI and the PCI Journal as an amazing tool to challenge «mega journals». They provide a great outlet to publish solid research that cannot find a home in a more field-specific venue. It would probably save us (academia, funders, university) a ton of money in APCs if publishing there was more recognized.”
Dr. Sebastian Lequime, Assistant Professor in Virus Ecology & Evolution (Faculty of Science and Engineering).