Opt-in to make your peer review public. If you say “this work is amazing, world changing”, there are two possible outcomes:
- ✅ It really is, and you publicly declaring this helps it spread, and helps you
- (signals you have foresight/called it early)
- ❌ It is not, it actually has serious flaws, in which case it STILL helps you
- (it hurts your reputation, but if your review was genuine, this is important feedback for you to know)
This makes people want to be “early to endorse” groundbreaking stuff (first public reviewer is known, first 10 public reviewers etc)
Also makes it possible for undergrads (or anyone) to contribute. If everyone in your undergrad class thinks a paper is brilliant, then it goes to the professor, and he sees the flaws, then it’s basically a test. If the undergrads (or internet randos) think it’s bad, it could be because it’s bad, or because they don’t get it.
It simultaneously spreads knowledge, in both directions.