From the scientific
perspective, peer review is the litmus test of reliability.
The idea is this: that in order for a newly published academic theory to have any credibility with either the
scientific community or the general public, it is necessary for
independent parties to test it: to carefully read through the documentation
that supports it; to re-calculate the mathematical formulas that lie behind it;
to examine the steps by which the theory was constructed and certify that its
conclusions were arrived at in accordance with normal scientific procedures; in
some cases even to re-perform whatever experiments are alleged to prove it and
examine their results for consistency.
You cannot do science off
in some dark corner and then refuse to allow anybody to see what you have been
up to. If you do, nobody will believe you at all.