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Traditional peer review is often criticized as opaque, biased, and disproportionately controlled by a few for-profit publishers. In this interview, Daniela Saderi shares her journey from a journal club to leading a nonprofit organization, whose mission is to make scholarly peer review more equitable, open, and collaborative.
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Daniela Saderi is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of PREreview, an organization with the mission to bring more equity and transparency to the evaluation of research content, giving systematically excluded researchers better ways to find, train, and contribute to peer review. Daniela holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Oregon Health & Science University during which she studied mechanisms of auditory processing in mammals, and she is a former Mozilla Fellow for Open Science 2018/2019.
Could you share some of the key experiences that led you to where you are now?
In 2017, as a Ph.D. candidate, I co-founded PREreview with a vision to make science more open, equitable, and collaborative. The journey began a year earlier at OpenCon 2016, where I was introduced to the transformative world of open science. Surrounded by a passionate community of early-career professionals determined to improve how science is conducted and communicated, I returned inspired to contribute to that change.
The spark for PREreview came from a simple yet profound idea: what if journal clubs could focus not on critiquing research already published in prestigious journals, but on discussing preprints—early versions of research articles that could still be revised? This inspiration, partly drawn from the groundbreaking work of ASAPbio and Dr. Prachee Avasthi, led me to introduce preprint discussions in my department’s journal clubs. We documented our insights and shared them directly with the authors, laying the groundwork for what would become PREreview.
In my final year as a student, a Mozilla Fellowship for Open Science provided the resources and connections needed to bring this idea to life. Together with Dr. Samantha Hindle and Dr. Monica Granados, we built PREreview from the ground up, fueled by modest funding and boundless dedication.
What are the challenges of traditional scholarly peer review? How did you plan to address it?
Traditional peer review is often criticized as opaque, biased, and disproportionately controlled by a few Western, for-profit publishers. This system, which determines the fate of global knowledge, is slow to adapt and rewards prestige over meaningful contribution. Our mission was clear: to democratize scholarly communication by enabling researchers from all backgrounds, career stages, and geographical locations to contribute constructive feedback to preprints. Our platform—the first free, open-source, journal-independent, and server-agnostic space for preprint reviews—empowers researchers with an ORCID iD to share their feedback constructively.
We emphasize training, collaborative review events, and community-developed resources to help researchers deliver constructive and actionable feedback. Our initiatives encourage critical reflection on biases, promote equity, and foster a sense of shared responsibility in evaluating scientific work.
Were there any challenges along the way?
Early funding was limited, allowing only one team member (myself) to work full-time. Building the platform involved iterative trial and error, requiring time, resources, and significant community input. Over the past two years, we emphasized consultation with our community. These efforts, supported by fair compensation for participants, ensured that the platform met the diverse needs of its users.
What would you tell others who want to improve current practices?
Partnerships and funders who believed in our mission were instrumental in sustaining and scaling our work. PREreview is a testament to the power of a shared vision, community collaboration, and resilience. The journey has been challenging, but it has also been profoundly rewarding. Every review published, every researcher trained and empowered brings us closer to a future where science belongs to everyone.