Why Evaluate for The Unjournal?
Unlike traditional journals where peer review is unpaid, anonymous, and invisible, The Unjournal compensates evaluators, publishes their work openly, and gives them proper academic credit.
Paid Work
Our current base compensation is $100 for a completed evaluation. We agree the scope, timing, and payment before anyone commits.
Published & Citable
Your evaluation receives a DOI and is published in The Unjournal (ISSN 3071-2173) on PubPub. Real scholarly credit for review work.
Prize Opportunities
In 2024-25, we awarded $6,500 in evaluator prizes. Future prize rounds depend on funding.
Signed or Anonymous
Choose whether to sign your evaluation publicly or remain anonymous. Your choice, every time.
Flexible Timeline
We work with your schedule. Most evaluations take 3-6 weeks, but we accommodate busy periods.
Impactful Research
Evaluate research that matters—work informing global health, development, policy, and effective interventions.
Compensation
At present, $100 is the compensation we can guarantee for a completed evaluation. We have historically aimed for at least $450 average compensation per evaluation, and met that target in earlier funded cycles through base payments, incentives, and prizes. With more funding, we aim to return to that level and increase compensation where scarce expertise or a particularly demanding assignment warrants it.
Future evaluator prizes depend on funding. If a new prize round is funded, eligible evaluations completed before the funding decision may be considered retrospectively, but prizes and their amounts are not guaranteed.
Our longer-term compensation approach includes:
- Base compensation: $100 for a completed evaluation under the current funding position.
- Additional payments: Subject to funding, we may increase compensation for especially useful evaluations, hard-to-source expertise, or specifically requested work.
- Prize recognition: Future prize rounds may recognize exceptional work, potentially including eligible evaluations completed before funding was secured.
How It Works
Join Our Pool
Complete a simple form with your expertise areas and background. We'll add you to our evaluator database.
Receive Invitations
When we have research matching your expertise, we'll reach out with details and timeline. You can accept or decline.
Conduct Your Evaluation
Review the research using our structured guidelines. Provide written feedback and quantitative ratings across multiple dimensions.
Publication & Payment
Your evaluation is published on PubPub with a DOI. Payment is processed promptly after submission.
Evaluation Forms
Our evaluation process uses structured forms to ensure consistency and thoroughness. Evaluators can use either the newer interactive form or the relevant Coda form, unless their evaluation manager gives paper-specific instructions. If you opened the wrong stream, switch between academic and applied below.
- Academic stream: interactive academic form or Coda academic form, for research aimed at academic journals.
- Applied stream: interactive applied form or Coda applied form, for policy, practitioner, or other applied research not mainly aimed at academic journals.
Evaluator Guidelines
Before submitting an evaluation, please read the full evaluator guidelines. They explain what we ask evaluators to assess, how to interpret the rating scales, and how the academic and applied streams differ.
AI Tools in Evaluation
The Unjournal supports evaluators using AI tools thoughtfully as a complement to, not a substitute for, expert human judgment. We are developing infrastructure to provide AI-generated reviews and consistency checks to evaluators after they submit, so they can compare perspectives and flag any important points they may have missed.
Full details: our AI/LLM use policy for evaluators.
Who We're Looking For
We seek evaluators with expertise in quantitative research methods and relevant subject areas. Ideal candidates have:
Focus Areas
We particularly need evaluators with expertise in:
- Development economics and global health
- Environmental economics and climate policy
- Behavioral science and psychology
- AI governance and technology policy
- Animal welfare research
- Meta-science and research methods
- Catastrophic and existential risk
Join Our Evaluator Pool
Complete a short form to be added to our database. We'll reach out when we have research matching your expertise.
Apply to Evaluate Evaluator Guidelines