Every time I referee a paper, I dream of a system which would allow me to ask the author a question without troubling the editors. It would save time for everyone involved, most importanly the referee; in my case it would probably half the refereeing time.
Here is the system I envision: together with the paper, the journal would give the referee a link to a secure web form where the referee could type a question which would automatically be emailed to the corresponding author, who in turn could reply in a similar web form. Of course, the editors should have access to the logs of these exchanges, and the system should be set up so that the exchanges (if any) can only be initiated by the referee.
Question. Has this ever been implemented? Are there reasons this cannot (or should not) be implemented in mathematics journals?
Best Answer
I did exactly as others have suggested: created a fake email account (this was pre-Gmail; I think I used "sithmail") called [author name]reviewer, and corresponded that way.
Actually, I did this not to ask about the paper, but to strongly recommend to the author that he put his article on the arXiv before signing anything (and pointed out that the editor himself frequently posted to the arXiv). I didn't see any point in putting the editor into a difficult position, about whether he was allowed to suggest to the author that the author arXiv the article.