This week (14 to 18 September) the global research community celebrates Peer Review Week, and we are joining in to thank the reviewers whose careful, often invisible work holds scholarship together.
The 2026 theme could not be closer to our own convictions: "Peer Review Capacity: Volume, Speed and Quality." As the volume of submissions rises and the pressure for fast decisions grows, peer review is being asked to do more, faster, without losing the rigour that is its entire purpose.
Why this theme resonates with us
Xpertia was built on the belief that quality should not be sacrificed to volume. A peer-review system stretched to breaking is not a neutral inconvenience — it is a threat to the trustworthiness of the record. So we choose focus over scale precisely so that review can stay careful, expert, and humane.
What we are doing
- Recognising reviewers as essential contributors, not free labour to be maximised.
- Investing in reviewer development through the Xpertia Academic Academy, so good reviewing is taught, not just expected.
- Moving toward transparency in how review is conducted and shown.
If you review, thank you — genuinely. If you would like to start, this is a good week to begin. Peer review is how a community takes responsibility for its own standards, and it only works because people give their time and judgement to it.
