The peer review process has been regarded as sacrosant in scholarly circles. Read this Aug 23, 2010 New York Times front page article which details how the prestigious Shakespeare Quarterly is opening its review to the World Wide Web.
Excerpt from article: “What we’re experiencing now is the most important transformation in our reading and writing tools since the invention of movable type,” said Katherine Rowe, a Renaissance specialist and media historian at Bryn Mawr College. “The way scholarly exchange is moving is radical, and we need to think about what it means for our fields.”