Biology Open paid peer review model cuts times to five working days
A paid-reviewer model trialled by The Company of Biologists on its Biology Open journal has reduced average peer review times from more than seven weeks to just over five working days.
The Fast & Fair peer review model, first piloted in 2024, uses a pool of pre-contracted reviewers who receive payment only if they complete reviews on time and meet editorial quality standards. Following the success of the initial trial, Biology Open expanded the approach in April 2025, applying it to all direct submissions where suitable reviewer expertise was available. Under the model, reviewers were paid £220 per manuscript, conditional on both timely completion and editorial assessment of review quality.
The results suggest a substantial improvement in review speed and reviewer engagement. Among peer-reviewed manuscripts submitted in 2025, the average time to a first decision based on completed reviews fell from 37.7 working days under conventional peer review to 5.5 working days using Fast & Fair.
The journal also reported significantly higher reviewer participation rates. Invitations under the Fast & Fair system were accepted 67% of the time, compared with 23% for conventional review requests. Non-response rates fell from 39% to 13%, while 98% of reviewers who accepted a Fast & Fair invitation completed their review, compared with 87% under the traditional model.
According to an abstract posted on the bioRxiv preprint server, the faster process did not appear to compromise review quality. Handling editors assessed each review for its usefulness in supporting editorial decisions and found that Fast & Fair generated fewer low-scoring reports than conventional peer review.
The study also found no significant changes in editorial decision-making. First-decision outcomes and final acceptance rates remained broadly consistent between the two systems, with acceptance rates of 59% under Fast & Fair and 61% under conventional peer review.
The authors, argue that the model tackles one of scholarly publishing’s most persistent challenges: securing reviewers willing to complete assessments within a reasonable timeframe.
They state: “While financial sustainability remains to be tested at scale, the Fast & Fair model addresses a major bottleneck in traditional peer review by replacing ad hoc reviewer recruitment with conditional compensation, predefined quality standards and a strict editorial timeline.”