Digital identity and the systemic vulnerability of peer review: A call for resilience, awareness, and shared governance
Dietzel M, Kocak B, Baltzer PA (2026)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2026
Journal
Book Volume: 199
Article Number: 112763
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2026.112763
Abstract
Peer review remains the cornerstone of scientific quality assurance, yet its structural foundations have shifted substantially in the digital era. This editorial reflects on how increasing scale, globalisation, and reliance on digital identities have altered the way trust is constructed in contemporary scholarly publishing. Reviewer identities are now often defined by minimal, self-declared credentials that are difficult to verify systematically, creating structural vulnerabilities that are still rarely discussed explicitly in the scientific community. At the same time, traditional proxies for authenticity, such as review quality, are losing discriminatory power with the widespread availability of generative AI. These developments do not imply failure of peer review, but they open pathways for coordinated influence that may remain undetected. We argue that addressing these challenges is a matter of leadership and collective responsibility rather than technical quick fixes.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
Turkey (TR)
Austria (AT)How to cite
APA:
Dietzel, M., Kocak, B., & Baltzer, P.A. (2026). Digital identity and the systemic vulnerability of peer review: A call for resilience, awareness, and shared governance. European Journal of Radiology, 199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2026.112763
MLA:
Dietzel, Matthias, Burak Kocak, and Pascal A.T. Baltzer. "Digital identity and the systemic vulnerability of peer review: A call for resilience, awareness, and shared governance." European Journal of Radiology 199 (2026).
BibTeX: Download