README.md

---
title: ICSAC
emoji: 📄
colorFrom: indigo
colorTo: gray
sdk: static
pinned: true
short_description: Open peer review for independent researchers. No APCs.
---

<p align="center">
  <img src="https://huggingface.co/spaces/ICSAC-Institute/README/resolve/main/cover.png" alt="ICSAC — Institute for Complexity Science and Advanced Computing" width="100%" />
</p>

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://icsacinstitute.org"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/site-icsacinstitute.org-2b3a67?style=flat-square" alt="Site"/></a>
  <a href="https://icsacinstitute.org/journal"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/journal-Persistence-7a5c2e?style=flat-square" alt="Persistence"/></a>
  <a href="https://icsacinstitute.org/submit"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/submit-free%20%E2%80%A2%20no%20APCs-0a66c2?style=flat-square" alt="Submit"/></a>
  <a href="https://zenodo.org/communities/icsac"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/DOIs-Zenodo-1682d4?style=flat-square" alt="Zenodo"/></a>
  <a href="https://github.com/ICSAC"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/source-github.com%2FICSAC-181717?style=flat-square&logo=github" alt="GitHub"/></a>
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-2b3a67?style=flat-square" alt="MIT"/>
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Fort%20Wayne-IN-555?style=flat-square" alt="Fort Wayne, IN"/>
</p>

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> **Academic publishing is broken, and the gatekeepers know it.** Paywalls in front, four-figure APCs in back, opaque desk-rejects in the middle, plagiarism detectors that flag a researcher's *own* prior work as misconduct. ICSAC is the answer we built after the system told us no for the wrong reason.

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## Why this exists

A peer-reviewed paper from this lab was desk-rejected by a large commercial publisher's flagship journal on a 94% plagiarism flag — entirely from **self-overlap with the author's own prior open-access papers** on the same research program. Iterative thinking, properly cited, dressed up as misconduct by a content-matching tool and rubber-stamped by an editor who didn't read past the score.

That is not peer review. That is liability-management automation wearing the costume of peer review.

So we built the alternative in the open:

- **5-reviewer AI panel** — five independent passes, full rubric, full reasoning, published.
- **Review-Quality-Control audit** — a sixth pass that scores the panel itself.
- **Human curator** — confirms, modifies, or overrides every recommendation. Name attached.
- **The redacted review record is published alongside the accepted paper.** Receipts, in public.

Prompts, rubrics, scoring code, citation verification, redaction layer, RQC audit — **published here, MIT-licensed**. Fork it. Audit it. Run it yourself. If we get something wrong, you can see exactly where.

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## The journal — *Persistence*

**Free to submit. Free to read. No APCs. Ever.**

Accepted papers are published in **the annual *Persistence* volume — paperback + ebook**, plus a free, permanent online record of the full review trail. Authors retain copyright. First issue: **May 2027**.

The review is the same for everyone — graduate student, garage researcher, lab without an open-access budget, tenured chair. The panel reads the manuscript, not the affiliation.

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://icsacinstitute.org/submit">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/→%20Submit%20a%20paper-icsacinstitute.org%2Fsubmit-2b3a67?style=for-the-badge" alt="Submit"/>
  </a>
</p>

<sub>ORCID-gated, 5–10 day turnaround. DOI on accept via Zenodo. No fast-track for friends, no slow-walk for outsiders.</sub>

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## On Hugging Face

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://huggingface.co/spaces/ICSAC-Institute/editorial-system">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/🤗%20Space-editorial--system-yellow?style=for-the-badge" alt="editorial-system Space"/>
  </a>
</p>

**[`editorial-system`](https://huggingface.co/spaces/ICSAC-Institute/editorial-system)** — the open-source AI editorial pipeline that receives, reviews, and adjudicates every submission to ICSAC and to *Persistence*. Submission handler, rubrics, prompts, citation checks, redaction layer, and the audit pass that scores the panel itself.

<sub>One defensive exception: the prompt-injection signal in the RQC audit is withheld, to avoid teaching adversarial submissions what to evade. Everything else is in the open.</sub>

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## Affiliate with the Institute

For independent researchers, postdocs between posts, retired scientists who never stopped working, and anyone whose work is real but whose letterhead is not. **Annual affiliation, $—/yr**, includes:

- A verifiable **ICSAC ID** in the form `ICSAC-NNNNN`, listed in our public directory.
- A **printable digital credential (PDF)** with a QR code that resolves to your public verification page at `icsacinstitute.org/verify/<id>`.
- The right to list **"Affiliate Researcher, ICSAC"** on your future works — papers, preprints, talks, conference proceedings — where appropriate and consistent with the venue's affiliation guidelines.
- *Persistence* digest newsletter, discount on the annual print, eligibility for merit-based promotion to Research Fellow.

Affiliation does **not** include review or curation rights — those are earned through demonstrated participation, not purchased.

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://icsacinstitute.org/community/membership-affiliation">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/→%20Become%20an%20Affiliate%20Researcher-icsacinstitute.org-2b3a67?style=for-the-badge" alt="Affiliate"/>
  </a>
</p>

<br/>

## Where the rest lives

- 🌐 &nbsp; **Institute site** &nbsp;→&nbsp; [icsacinstitute.org](https://icsacinstitute.org)
- 📖 &nbsp; **Journal — *Persistence*** &nbsp;→&nbsp; [icsacinstitute.org/journal](https://icsacinstitute.org/journal)
- 📄 &nbsp; **Accepted papers + review records** &nbsp;→&nbsp; [icsacinstitute.org/publications](https://icsacinstitute.org/publications)
- ✉&nbsp;&nbsp; **Submit a manuscript** (ORCID-gated, free) &nbsp;→&nbsp; [icsacinstitute.org/submit](https://icsacinstitute.org/submit)
- 🪪 &nbsp; **Verify a member ID** &nbsp;→&nbsp; [icsacinstitute.org/verify](https://icsacinstitute.org/verify)
- 🧪 &nbsp; **Zenodo deposits (DOIs)** &nbsp;→&nbsp; [zenodo.org/communities/icsac](https://zenodo.org/communities/icsac)
- 🛠 &nbsp; **Source mirrors** &nbsp;→&nbsp; [github.com/ICSAC](https://github.com/ICSAC)

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## Support the work

ICSAC runs on bootstrap funding from [**3Rivers WebTech**](https://3riverswebtech.com) and direct contributions from people who think rigorous, accessible peer review is worth keeping alive outside the gatekept circuit. **No grants, no university overhead, no APCs — so the math has to come from somewhere.**

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://icsacinstitute.org/community/donate">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/💳%20Donate%20%E2%80%A2%20Support%20%E2%80%A2%20Sponsor-via%20Stripe-635bff?style=for-the-badge" alt="Donate via Stripe"/>
  </a>
  &nbsp;
  <a href="https://manifund.org/projects/icsac-ai-assisted-peer-review-for-independent-researchers">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Back%20us%20on-Manifund-f97316?style=for-the-badge" alt="Manifund"/>
  </a>
</p>

<sub>One-time donation • annual Supporter (name on /supporters) • annual Sponsor (logo + link). All run through Stripe at [icsacinstitute.org/community/donate](https://icsacinstitute.org/community/donate). ICSAC is not a registered 501(c)(3); contributions are not tax-deductible.</sub>

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---

<p align="center">
  <sub>
    <a href="mailto:info@icsacinstitute.org">info@icsacinstitute.org</a>
    &nbsp;·&nbsp; Fort Wayne, IN
    &nbsp;·&nbsp; Founded 2026
  </sub>
</p>