Applicants as reviewers? Here’s how it can work

RoRI is pleased to announce a new RoRI Insights guide – Applicants as reviewers: a guide to distributed peer review – offering practical advice for funders interested in experimenting with distributed peer review (DPR).

Applicants as reviewers: a guide to distributed peer review

What is Distributed Peer Review (DPR)?

Distributed Peer Review is a model in which applicants to a funding call also serve as reviewers for that call. Each applicant is required to review proposals from other applicants, creating a scalable, reciprocal system of assessment.

Why DPR?

DPR has the potential to create a review system that is faster, more scalable, and fairer than traditional panel-based peer review.

While not a new concept, DPR is gaining momentum, with trials and adoption by major funders including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Volkswagen Foundation, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

New Guidance from RoRI

This guide, developed through our AFIRE programme, brings together lessons from funders who have trialed DPR, offering:

• a clear checklist for implementing DPR
• guidance on evaluation, feedback, and platform setup
• an overview of how DPR differs from conventional review processes, with advice on navigating risks and challenges

The Insights Report is aimed at any funder thinking about DPR for the first time or looking to refine their current approach. The guide also includes contact details for peer learning with funders who have already trialled the model.

The guide grew out of the Volkswagen Foundation’s decision to trial Distributed Peer Review in the 2024 round of their call ‘Open Up – New Research Spaces for the Humanities and Cultural Studies’ and to fund rigorous evaluation of this trial by researchers from RoRI.

Download the guide:

Applicants as reviewers: a guide to distributed peer review