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Peer review stack

The public record does the citation work. The manuscript stays on your machine. The judgement stays yours.

Intermediate
Tools6 (3 required)
BudgetZotero is free with 300 MB of storage, and Semantic Scholar is free. Scite is a subscription and many universities already license it, so check your library before paying for a seat. Claude and NotebookLM both have free tiers and both stay closed unless the venue permits unpublished text in cloud tools.
Workflow5 steps
Before you start
  • The venue, editor, or course policy on AI in peer review
  • The manuscript, under the confidentiality terms you accepted with the invitation
Start now
Monthly math

Stack cost calculator

Required tools from Free – $54.99/mo when every seat is on the cheapest monthly tier.

  • ZoterorequiredFree
  • Semantic ScholarrequiredFree
  • SciterequiredFree·$20/mo
  • PerplexityoptionalFree·$10/mo
  • ClaudeoptionalFree·$20/mo
  • NotebookLMoptionalFree·$4.99/mo

Vendor annual plans, usage billing, and team seats can change the real bill. Treat this as a floor, not a quote.

Role × tool

Zotero

required

The local file for this review. One entry with venue, deadline, confidentiality status, the quoted policy sentence, and your two-sentence summary of the claim. Turn off sync for the collection if the PDF is under embargo.

Free Free · 2 GB $20/yr · 6 GB $60/yr · Unlimited $120/yr · Institutional CustomOpen dossier →

Semantic Scholar

required

Check that cited papers exist as described and that the novelty claim holds. Search the manuscript's own framing, not its reference list, and see what comes back that the authors did not cite.

Web & alerts Free · Graph API Free · Bulk datasets FreeOpen dossier →

Scite

required

Read the citing context of each load-bearing reference: supporting or contrasting. A reference cited as settled evidence that later work mostly contrasts is a major issue with a public URL behind it.

Free Free · Basic $20/mo · Pro $50/mo · Team & Enterprise CustomOpen dossier →

Perplexity

optional

One job: find the URL of the venue's AI policy. Take the link, close the tab, read the page. Never paste manuscript text here, not even a title.

Free Free · Pro $20/mo · Max $200/mo · Education Pro $10/mo · Enterprise Pro $40/mo · Enterprise Max $325/mo · Sonar $1 · Sonar Pro $3 · Sonar Reasoning Pro $2 · Sonar Deep Research $2 · Agent API / Search API CustomOpen dossier →

Claude

optional

Opens only when the policy lock reads allowed. Then it pressure-tests the claim map you wrote in your own words. It does not receive the PDF and it does not draft the report.

Free Free · Pro $20/mo · Max 5× $100/mo · Max 20× $200/mo · Team Standard $25/mo · Team Premium $125/mo · Enterprise $20/mo · API CustomOpen dossier →

NotebookLM

optional

Grounded questions about the manuscript, and only where the venue says so in writing. If the policy is silent or ambiguous, this stays shut for the whole review.

Standard Free · Plus $4.99/mo · Pro $19.99/mo · Google AI Plus student offer (CH, 1 year) Free · Ultra 20TB $99.99/mo · Ultra 30TB $200/mo · Enterprise $9/moOpen dossier →
Run order

How the pieces fit together

  1. Quote the venue AI rule and write the lock: allowed, forbidden, or unclear. Unclear counts as forbidden.
  2. Read the manuscript once with the pen down and file the handling note in Zotero.
  3. Map claim, evidence, method, and conclusion in your notes. Claude joins only if the lock allows it.
  4. Check the load-bearing references in Scite and Semantic Scholar and collect public URLs.
  5. Write the report so every major issue carries an action and the recommendation follows from the majors.
Before you ship

This stack only earns its keep when you actually follow the run order.

  • A confidential PDF in a consumer chatbot is a breach of the review agreement first and a quality problem second.
  • Scite tells you how published papers are cited. It knows nothing about the manuscript in front of you.
  • A friendlier tone is not a fairer review. Authors act on the comment they can see, so keep the severity legible.

Browse the atlas by task

Questions this guide answers

Every answer below is assembled from the dated fields on this page. Nothing is written separately for search.

Who is Peer review stack for?

Reviewers who have to do citation work on a manuscript they are not allowed to upload anywhere.

What does Peer review stack get you to?

The public record does the citation work. The manuscript stays on your machine. The judgement stays yours.

What does Peer review stack cost to run?

Zotero is free with 300 MB of storage, and Semantic Scholar is free. Scite is a subscription and many universities already license it, so check your library before paying for a seat. Claude and NotebookLM both have free tiers and both stay closed unless the venue permits unpublished text in cloud tools.

Which tools sit in Peer review stack?

Each tool in the stack has a job:

  • The local file for this review. One entry with venue, deadline, confidentiality status, the quoted policy sentence, and your two-sentence summary of the claim. Turn off sync for the collection if the PDF is under embargo.
  • Check that cited papers exist as described and that the novelty claim holds. Search the manuscript's own framing, not its reference list, and see what comes back that the authors did not cite.
  • Read the citing context of each load-bearing reference: supporting or contrasting. A reference cited as settled evidence that later work mostly contrasts is a major issue with a public URL behind it.
  • One job: find the URL of the venue's AI policy. Take the link, close the tab, read the page. Never paste manuscript text here, not even a title.
  • Opens only when the policy lock reads allowed. Then it pressure-tests the claim map you wrote in your own words. It does not receive the PDF and it does not draft the report.
  • Grounded questions about the manuscript, and only where the venue says so in writing. If the policy is silent or ambiguous, this stays shut for the whole review.

What should you watch for in Peer review stack?

The stack publishes these cautions:

  • A confidential PDF in a consumer chatbot is a breach of the review agreement first and a quality problem second.
  • Scite tells you how published papers are cited. It knows nothing about the manuscript in front of you.
  • A friendlier tone is not a fairer review. Authors act on the comment they can see, so keep the severity legible.