Aristotle discussed his work with his colleagues, giving us a hint that preliminary form of peer review was created at that time.
Perhaps the first documented description of a peer-review process is in a book called Ethics of the Physician by Ishap bin Ali Al Rahwi ( 854–931) of Al Raha, Syria. This work, and its later variants or manuals, states that it is the duty of a visiting physician to make duplicate notes of the condition of the patient on each visit. When the patient had been cured or had died, the notes of the physician were examined by a local council of physicians, who would adjudicate as to whether the physician had performed according to the standards that then prevailed. On the basis of their rulings, the practising physician could be sued for damages by a maltreated patient [1 and 2].