Evaluate Research
Who we're looking for
Researchers at any career stage with expertise in quantitative social science, economics, global health, animal welfare, psychology, AI/tech policy, or related fields. PhD students and early-career researchers are welcome.
What's involved
You receive a paper in your area of expertise and provide:
- A structured written evaluation (2–5 pages)
- Numerical ratings on 7 criteria, each with confidence intervals
Most evaluations take 5–15 hours. Timelines are flexible and agreed in advance.
Compensation
Evaluators receive $250–$400 per completed evaluation, paid via Wise or PayPal. Your evaluation is published with a DOI on PubPub (ISSN 3071-2173) — a citable scholarly output that appears on your CV.
Evaluation criteria
Evaluators rate each paper on seven dimensions:
- Overall assessment
- Advancing knowledge and practice
- Methods (justification, reasonableness, validity)
- Logic and communication
- Real-world relevance
- Global priorities relevance
- Open science practices
Submit or Recommend Research
There are two ways to bring research to The Unjournal: submit your own work for evaluation, or recommend a paper by someone else.
Submit your own work
You are an author who wants expert evaluation of your paper or preprint.
- Free to submit; no publication fees
- We prioritize papers in our research focus areas
- Choose between confidential or public evaluation
- Receive written feedback and numerical ratings from 2–3 evaluators
Recommend others' work
You know of a paper that deserves rigorous, open evaluation.
- Recommend papers in our priority areas, including work by others
- Recommendations from the research community help us identify impactful work
- We consider all recommendations
Join the Team
The Unjournal is built on the contributions of researchers and specialists across many fields. We have roles suited to different levels of availability and expertise.
Field Specialist
Help identify and prioritize research in your area of expertise.
- Nominate papers for evaluation
- Review research priorities
- Provide field context and guidance
Research Affiliate / URA
Undergraduate, graduate, or early-career researchers assisting with research tasks.
- Literature review and data analysis
- Research synthesis
- Evaluation management support
Advisory Board & Management
Senior researchers providing strategic guidance or operational leadership.
- Advisory board roles filled by invitation based on field fit
- Operational roles: remote, paid positions
- Current opening: Operations Lead (~$30–55/hr)
Other Ways to Help
- Spread the word Share our evaluations, cite them in your work, and mention The Unjournal to researchers whose papers could benefit from rigorous open evaluation.
- Press & media For press inquiries, contact us at contact@unjournal.org.
- Partnerships We are interested in partnerships with research organizations, funders, and open science initiatives. Contact us to discuss how we might work together.
- Donate We are a nonprofit initiative. Your support helps us sustain evaluations, pay evaluators fairly, and expand our reach. Support us →