Blended PC Peer Review Model: Process and Reflection

Abstract

The academic peer review system is under increasing pressure due to a growing volume of submissions and a limited pool of available reviewers, resulting in delayed decisions and an uneven distribution of reviewing responsibilities. Building upon the International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR) community's earlier experience with a Shadow PC (2021 and 2022) and Junior PC (2023 and 2024), MSR 2025 experimented with a Blended Program Committee (PC) peer review model for its Technical Track. This new model pairs up one Junior PC member with two regular PC members as part of the core review team of a given paper, instead of adding them as an extra reviewer. This paper presents the rationale, implementation, and reflections on the model, including empirical insights from a post-review author survey evaluating the quality and usefulness of reviews. Our findings highlight the potential of a Blended PC to alleviate reviewer shortages, foster inclusivity, and sustain a high-quality peer review process. We offer lessons learned and recommendations to guide future adoption and refinement of the model.