Lyne Starling Trimble Public Event Series
The Surprisingly Short History of Peer Review in the Sciences
Melinda Baldwin, University of Maryland
Friday, December 4, 2026
5:45pm, Reception
6:30pm, Lecture and Q&A
American Center for Physics
555 12th Street NW, Suite 250
Washington, DC 20004
Abstract
Melinda Baldwin
Peer review is now considered one of the central pillars of scientific research, a process that is meant to ensure the reliability of journal articles and grant outcomes. However, the history of peer review is far shorter than many observers have assumed. This talk explores the history of peer review, beginning with the first refereeing systems in nineteenth-century Europe. I argue that well into the twentieth century, many scientific institutions deliberately eschewed the practice of peer review, and were not seen as less respectable for it. The idea that “peer review” is a prerequisite for scientific legitimacy solidified among both scientists and other stakeholders during conflicts about expert advice at federal funding bodies in the Cold War United States.
Biography
Melinda Baldwin is the AIP Endowed Professor in History of Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the author of Making Nature: The History of a Scientific Journal as well as the new open-access book In Referees We Trust? How Peer Review Became a Mark of Scientific Legitimacy. She is also a former senior editor at Physics Today. She holds a PhD in history of science from Princeton University, an MPhil in history and philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge, and a BS in chemistry and history from Davidson College.
Top image
Collage of peer-review-related materials held in the collections of the AIP Niels Bohr Library & Archives.