The Past and Present of Peer Review in the Humanities: An Introduction

Abstract This Introduction to the Special Issue “The Past and Present of Peer Review in the Humanities” situates the currently dominant evaluative regime of peer review within a longer and broader history of scholar-to-scholar evaluation in the humanities. Building on the articles included in this issue, it aims to expand the historical and sociological understanding of “peer review” by exploring a wide range of evaluative practices—from post-publication open book reviews to pre-publication double-blind article assessments—across diverse historical contexts, from nineteenth-century France to twenty-first-century Sweden. The Introduction first offers a new and preliminary long-term historical narrative of the development of peer review in the humanities. Second, it outlines the various and evolving forms and functions of peer review within the field. Finally, it sketches how these historical perspectives and a broader understanding of “peer review” can inform ongoing discussions about the future of peer evaluation in both the humanities and the sciences.