pyOpenSci makes Python software better and easier to find through peer review

Our open peer review process makes scientific software better and easier to discover.

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How Python software peer review works

Software peer review, similar to the review of scientific papers, is a process where scientists vet software code, documentation, and infrastructure. pyOpenSci leads an open peer review process run by a community of dedicated volunteers. Reviews are supportive and fully transparent with the shared goal of improving the quality, usability, and maintainability of the software that is driving open science.

Diverse teams lead each review, enhancing the overall feedback quality.

Learn about the peer review timeline and roles

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Get a fast-track JOSS publication

Our partnership with JOSS means that you don’t have to choose between pyOpenSci and JOSS. Simply submit your package to pyOpenSci for review. If your package is accepted and in scope for JOSS, it will be fast-tracked through JOSS' review process.

Learn more about our JOSS partnership

Get involved with software peer review

Become a pyOpenSci reviewer

We could use your help! Fill out our reviewer form. We will contact you if we have a package that we need reviewers for. It's OK if you've never reviewed a package before! We'll walk you through it. Sign up now (Google Form)

See our review process in action

Our software review process is run using GitHub issues. This means that anyone can check in on any part of any review and read all of the conversation. Check it out. See open reviews

Ready to submit a package for review?

To submit a package to us, you need to open an issue in our peer review GitHub repository. Learn about the steps to submit a package for open peer review in our guidebook. View our Author Guide

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Scientists need trusted and vetted software

Through our partnerships with domain-specific communities, our catalog of trusted tools for scientists across domains continues to grow.

Learn more about scientific Python community partnerships

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Peer review benefits open source maintainers

The pyOpenSci peer review process multiplies shared knowledge, making it easier for Pythonistas of all levels to accomplish challenging tasks, such as navigating the Python packaging ecosystem, with relative ease. And our diverse community supports scientific package maintainers in their efforts to develop and build robust software.

Learn more about the benefits of peer review

Meet our editorial board

The pyOpenSci software peer review process is led by a volunteer team of editors from the scientific Python community. Editors do the following things:

They find reviewers from diverse backgrounds who have a mixture of scientific domain and Python experience.
They oversee the entire review process for a package ensuring it runs in a timely and efficient manner.
They support the submitting authors and reviewers in answering questions related to the review.
They determine whether that package should be accepted into the pyOpenSci ecosystem once the review has wrapped up.

Learn more about the editor role at pyOpenSci in our peer review guide.