Publons
| Company type | Commercial platform |
|---|---|
| Industry | Academic publishing, Peer review |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Andrew Preston, Daniel Johnston |
| Fate | Acquired by Clarivate in 2017 |
| Headquarters | New Zealand (initial registration), United Kingdom (London office) |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Peer review tracking and verification platform |
| Parent | Clarivate |
Publons was a commercial platform launched in 2012 designed to help researchers monitor, authenticate, and display their peer review and editorial work for scholarly journals. After its acquisition by Clarivate in 2017, the site amassed a user base exceeding 3 million researchers who collectively contributed over one million reviews spanning 25,000 journals. In 2019, the platform incorporated ResearcherID functionality.
The service offered a verified record of users' reviewing and editorial activities, which could be utilized in resumes, grant proposals, and performance assessments. Its revenue model primarily involved collaborations with academic publishers.
Background
Established by Andrew Preston and Daniel Johnston, Publons sought to update peer review processes to encourage cooperation and speed up scientific advancement. The name derives from "publon," referring to the smallest publishable unit of material. The organization was initially registered in New Zealand with a London office before becoming part of Clarivate Analytics in 2017.
Services
Publons provided publishers with solutions to identify, vet, communicate with, and incentivize peer reviewers; offered insights and reports on global peer review trends; delivered training programs for early-stage researchers; and included features enabling academics to discuss and assess published studies. Reviewers had the option to make their reviews open access following publication, though journals retained the right to restrict this. Review materials were distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. The platform collaborated with numerous publishing partners and integrated services such as Altmetric and ORCID.
Publons Peer Review Awards
Since 2016, the Publons Peer Review Awards have acknowledged outstanding reviewers and editors. The Sentinel Award was added in 2017 to celebrate exceptional contributions or innovations in scholarly peer review advocacy.
Reception
TechCrunch recognized Publons for tackling transparency challenges within academic publishing. Research Information pointed out that although Publons supports both pre- and post-publication reviews, not all reviews are made public to honor prevailing conventions. Nature emphasized the importance of peer review as a crucial responsibility and reported feedback from some of the platform’s most active reviewers.
The platform has encountered criticism due to sending unsolicited mass emails to academics, which led to breaches of acceptable use policies flagged by email providers.