Spaces:
Running
Running
| 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> | |
| <br/> | |
| > **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. | |
| <br/> | |
| ## 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. | |
| <br/> | |
| ## 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> | |
| <br/> | |
| ## 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> | |
| <br/> | |
| ## 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 | |
| - 🌐 **Institute site** → [icsacinstitute.org](https://icsacinstitute.org) | |
| - 📖 **Journal — *Persistence*** → [icsacinstitute.org/journal](https://icsacinstitute.org/journal) | |
| - 📄 **Accepted papers + review records** → [icsacinstitute.org/publications](https://icsacinstitute.org/publications) | |
| - ✉ **Submit a manuscript** (ORCID-gated, free) → [icsacinstitute.org/submit](https://icsacinstitute.org/submit) | |
| - 🪪 **Verify a member ID** → [icsacinstitute.org/verify](https://icsacinstitute.org/verify) | |
| - 🧪 **Zenodo deposits (DOIs)** → [zenodo.org/communities/icsac](https://zenodo.org/communities/icsac) | |
| - 🛠 **Source mirrors** → [github.com/ICSAC](https://github.com/ICSAC) | |
| <br/> | |
| ## 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> | |
| | |
| <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> | |
| <br/> | |
| --- | |
| <p align="center"> | |
| <sub> | |
| <a href="mailto:info@icsacinstitute.org">info@icsacinstitute.org</a> | |
| · Fort Wayne, IN | |
| · Founded 2026 | |
| </sub> | |
| </p> | |