Identify the impactful axes of reviewer diversity for peer-review efficacy

Identify which axes of reviewer slate diversity—organizational affiliation, geographical location, co-authorship network proximity, topical area overlap, and seniority level—are important for improving the efficacy of the peer-review process.

Background

The paper studies how diversity within the slate of reviewers assigned to a submission influences the utility of reviews, focusing on coverage and redundancy as group-level metrics. Diversity can be defined along multiple axes—organization, geography, co-authorship network, topical expertise, and seniority—which may impose practical constraints on reviewer assignment if applied simultaneously.

The authors explicitly note uncertainty about which dimensions of diversity matter most for improving peer-review efficacy. Addressing this question is central to informing reviewer assignment policies, especially for large conferences and journals that must balance expertise, fairness, and logistical feasibility.