Bound by Tradition? Peer Review and New Scholarship: An Institutional Case Study

Peer review is by no means a routine process for traditional, or basic, research. Even so, peer review is even less routinized for other forms of scholarship. In 1990, Ernest Boyer called for a reconsideration of scholarship and extended the definition to be inclusive of non-traditional modes of scholarly production and delivery. However, peer review processes for non-traditional scholarship modes have proven difficult to assess and implement. An examination of promotion and tenure documents at a regional comprehensive university reveals the various strategies departments use to provide peer review for work faculty consider to be non-traditional. The study found five models for peer review of non-traditional scholarship that have implications for other institutions seeking to recognize and reward non-traditional scholarship.