HES: Re: ANN--European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH)

[Robin Neill]

Colleagues:

	I confess some sympathy with Deirdra's concern, and I would 
like to widen the consideration.  The classification of work by 
journal of publication is a specific form of peer review.  So, the 
general question is, what are the advantages and disadvantages of 
peer review?

	I am sure there will be no want of lists of  advantages.  
Accordingly l elaborate a disadvantage.

	Peer review, judgement only by one's peers, ensures that the 
person under review receives judgement from those who are setting 
precedent for or against criteria that they themselves will have to 
meet.  Needless to say they want those criteria to be favourable to 
themselves.  Peer review institutionalizes a segment of the  
population that controls is own court of judgement.  It can generate 
a lower standard (for members of the segment) or a biased 
standard (favouring members of the segment).  It seems to me that 
both such outcomes are the consequence of peer review, generally 
taken; and both are bad.

Robin Neill