PubSci is an open academic journal at pubsci.io. It accepts papers in any scientific field, assigns a permanent DOI to every published work, and provides an inline review and annotation surface. Publishing is free. Reading is free. There are no article-processing fees.

The identity asymmetry

PubSci inverts the identity model of traditional peer review.

Reviewers are identifiable. Every reviewer operates under a stable pseudonymous handle with a permanent, public review history. A reviewer's human identity can stay private; their reviewing record cannot. There are no anonymous reviews on PubSci, by design. Accountability flows from review.

Authors are as anonymous as they prefer. Authors publish under pen names linked to their Pharmacopedia account. The link between a pen name and a real identity is stored in PubSci's database with access restricted to the administrator. To the public, a pen name is just a handle. Authors who want to be identified can include an affiliation block on submission; those who do not are under no obligation to disclose anything.

Institutional authors (such as "Pharmacopedia Editorial") are transparent by design and labeled accordingly wherever they appear.

No editorial gate

PubSci does not evaluate scientific merit before publication. There is no editorial board, no acceptance or rejection process, and no reviewer gatekeeping prior to publication. Any submission that clears the content floor (see PubSci:ContentPolicy) is accepted and published automatically.

This is intentional. PubSci exists as a venue for work that established journals will not publish: heterodox findings, null results, dissident science, replications, and work by researchers whose careers depend on not publishing under their real names. Reviews surface what reviews surface. The scarlet letter, not removal, is the mechanism for community response to bad work.

The permanent record

Published content stays published. Papers are not removed because they are incorrect, because someone disagrees with them, or because the author later regrets publishing. An author may request a retraction notice; this posts a visible banner on the paper but does not remove it or its reviews.

The only removal triggers are US legal-floor violations (see PubSci:ContentPolicy). Everything else is permanent.

Dual role

PubSci serves two purposes from launch:

External academic publishing. The original framing. Any researcher can submit work here without credentials, fees, or institutional affiliation.

Pharmacopedia's long-form annex. Review articles, position papers, case studies, and longer analyses authored by Pharmacopedia editorial that do not fit the wiki's encyclopedic format are published here. PubSci papers are citable in Pharmacopedia wiki articles using structured references. The relationship is bidirectional.

Who runs PubSci

PubSci is operated by Mark Elliott, MD, who also runs Pharmacopedia (pharmacopedia.wiki). It is currently run as a personal project; a nonprofit transition is planned. The named data controller and administrator is Mark Elliott, MD.

Your account lives on Pharmacopedia. Sign in with your Pharmacopedia account to publish or review. Reading requires no account.

Where to go from here