Abstract
Peer review is inefficient, biased, and often ineffective. However, its importance in maintaining research integrity, at a time when the public has less faith in science, is clear, since journals are the principal conduit for communicating the results of research to the scientific community and the public. Given that the number of published manuscripts in the biomedical sciences now exceeds 3 million per year it is no longer possible for human editorial and peer review alone to ensure integrity. New approaches are needed, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in editorial and peer review.