Reflections on the impact of artificial intelligence on peer-review practices and its implications for greener scientific evaluation
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: • AI use in peer-review is rising but remains poorly regulated • Structural pressures drive reviewers toward AI-assisted reports • Automated reviews risk shallow evaluation and loss of human judgement • AI may increase inequality, bias, and sustainability concerns • Responsible AI integration requires transparency and editorial action Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a common presence in scientific publishing, yet its use in peer-review has received much less attention than its role in manuscript preparation. This article aims to analyze the use the structural pressures that drive reviewers toward AI use, including time constraints, reviewer scarcity, and performance-based incentives. It contrasts critical human reading with automated or template-based reports, identifies recurrent signals of AI-assisted reviews, and examines their ethical, emotional, and sustainability implications. Attention is given to how AI may influence metric-based evaluations and reinforce superficial or score-driven interpretations of scientific quality. We argue that the central risk is not simply factual error, but the gradual normalization of procedural evaluation over intellectual scrutiny. As automation becomes routine, peer-review may shift from a space of critical dialogue to a system of opaque filters. To address this challenge, we propose the need for “meta-assessment” frameworks capable of evaluating not only scientific methods, but also the quality and transparency of the evaluation process itself. Moving forward, peer-review must integrate AI with human oversight and transparent standards, so that efficiency supports rather than replaces critical evaluation, contributing to greener and more sustainable practices in our community.
Source: Green Analytical Chemistry
Institution: Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,550
Funder: Leuphana Universität Lüneburg
OpenAlex ID: W7155177120