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The concept of peer review, in the form of the submission of manuscripts to refereed journals, is analysed. Standard received sociological and philosophical accounts of the place of peer review in the production of knowledge are summarized and critiqued. An alternative 'constructivist' account is given, and this account is also critiqued. An account of the 'Social Text Affair' is given, and it is argued that the affair is instructive for understanding the place of peer review in the production of knowledge. An account of the author's communications with the editors of Ulrich's International Directory of Periodicals about Social Text is given. Finally, the sociological concept of 'boundary work' is introduced, and it is concluded that peer review is a form of 'boundary work.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of pseudoscience, as coined by philosopher Karl Popper, is discussed in the context of its application to library science and its implications for selection. Popper' s demarcation criterion is described. The literature on pseudoscience and libraries, which accepts Popper' s demarcation criteria, is summarized and critiqued. The received view of a rigid distinction between pseudoscience and science is found wanting. The new sociology of scientific knowledge and constructivism is described and advocated as an alternative to the received view of science, and the notion of `boundary work' is suggested as an alternative to demarcation. It is concluded that constructivism is a non-elitist, democratic, and client-centered guide to selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulation of DNA repair can be achieved through ubiquitin-mediated degradation of transiently induced proteins. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rad4 is involved in damage recognition during nucleotide excision repair (NER) and, in conjunction with Rad23, recruits other proteins to the site of damage. We identified a synthetic interaction upon UV exposure between Rad4 and Cdc20, a protein that modulates the activity of the anaphase promoting complex (APC/C), a multisubunit E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. The moderately UV sensitive Arad4 strain became highly sensitive when cdc20-1 was present, and was rescued by overexpression of CDC20. The double mutant is also deficient in elicting RNR3-lacZ transcription upon exposure to UV irradiation or 4-NQO compared with the Arad4 single mutant. We demonstrate that the Arad4/cdc20-1 double mutant is defective in double strand break repair by way of a plasmid end-joining assay, indicating that Rad4 acts to ensure that damaged DNA is repaired via a Cdc20-mediated mechanism. This study is the first to present evidence that Cdc20 may play a role in the degradation of proteins involved in nucleotide excision repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]