# BeaverCheck Audit Report — https://peerj.com **Date:** April 22, 2026 **URL:** https://peerj.com **Overall Grade:** C (74/100) **Report:** https://beavercheck.com/results/5ee920a8-d76f-4078-8dff-c35cf127d291 ## Top Findings 1. **[CRITICAL]** Content-Security-Policy header is missing — Security > Security Headers 2. **[CRITICAL]** No Content-Security-Policy header found — Security > Content Security Policy 3. **[CRITICAL]** 2 button(s) with no accessible text — Accessibility > Link & Button Quality 4. **[WARNING]** 45 third-party resources (90% of weight) — Performance > Page Weight Inventory 5. **[WARNING]** Cookie '__cf_bm' has no SameSite attribute — Security > Cookie Security --- ## Lighthouse Scores | Category | Score | |----------|-------| | Performance | 44 | | Accessibility | 100 | | Best Practices | 96 | | SEO | 100 | --- ## Security ### Security Headers (D — 40/100) *4 of 10 headers properly configured* - **[WARNING]** HSTS max-age is too short (2592000s, should be ≥ 31536000s) — A short max-age leaves a window for downgrade attacks. Set max-age to at least 31536000 (1 year). - **[PASS]** X-Content-Type-Options is properly configured - **[PASS]** X-Frame-Options is properly configured - **[WARNING]** Referrer-Policy header is missing — Controls how much referrer information is sent with requests. Set to 'strict-origin-when-cross-origin' or stricter. - **[WARNING]** Permissions-Policy header is missing — Controls which browser features (camera, microphone, geolocation) are allowed. Set it to restrict unused features. - **[CRITICAL]** Content-Security-Policy header is missing — CSP is the most important header for preventing XSS attacks. See the CSP section for detailed analysis. - **[WARNING]** Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy header is missing — COOP isolates your browsing context, preventing cross-origin side-channel attacks. Set to 'same-origin'. - **[WARNING]** Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy header is missing — COEP prevents loading cross-origin resources without explicit permission. Required for SharedArrayBuffer and high-resolution timers. - **[PASS]** X-Powered-By header is not present - **[PASS]** Server header is present without version info ### Content Security Policy (F — 0/100) *No enforcing CSP policy found* - **[CRITICAL]** No Content-Security-Policy header found — CSP is the most effective defense against XSS attacks. Add a Content-Security-Policy header to restrict resource loading. ### TLS & Certificates (A+ — 100/100) *TLS 1.3, 7 checks passed* - **[PASS]** TLS 1.3 is used - **[PASS]** Strong cipher suite is used - **[INFO]** HTTP/2 is not negotiated — HTTP/2 provides multiplexing and header compression for better performance. - **[PASS]** Certificate is valid (expires in 72 days) - **[PASS]** Certificate chain has 3 certificates - **[PASS]** Certificate uses modern signature algorithm - **[PASS]** Certificate covers 1 domain(s) - **[PASS]** Certificate is issued by a trusted CA ### Cookie Security (A+ — 95/100) *1 cookies analyzed, 2 checks passed* - **[PASS]** Cookie '__cf_bm' has the Secure flag - **[PASS]** Cookie '__cf_bm' has the HttpOnly flag - **[WARNING]** Cookie '__cf_bm' has no SameSite attribute — Without an explicit SameSite attribute, browser default behavior varies. Set SameSite=Lax or Strict. --- ## Advanced Security ### Subresource Integrity (F — 20/100) *0 of 32 external resources have SRI* - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.mxpnl.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from transcend-cdn.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from transcend-cdn.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from pushpad.xyz lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External link from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. - **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.peerj.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code. ### JS Library Vulnerabilities (A+ — 100/100) *No known vulnerabilities* - **[PASS]** No known JavaScript library vulnerabilities detected ### Information Leakage (A+ — 100/100) *No exposures* - **[INFO]** No security.txt found — Consider adding a security.txt at /.well-known/security.txt. - **[PASS]** No sensitive files exposed ### Email Security (A — 85/100) *DMARC: quarantine* - **[PASS]** DMARC policy is quarantine — good protection ### Permissions-Policy (D — 40/100) *No header set* - **[WARNING]** No Permissions-Policy header — Consider adding a Permissions-Policy header to restrict browser feature access from embedded content. ### CORS Configuration (B — 80/100) *No CORS headers* - **[PASS]** No CORS headers present — secure default --- ## Performance ### Page Weight Budget (D — 44/100) *2.4 MB transferred, 59 requests* - **[INFO]** Page weighs 6.6 MB (2.4 MB transferred) - **[WARNING]** JavaScript is 1.2 MB — consider code splitting or lazy loading — Large JavaScript bundles delay interactivity. Split code by route or defer non-critical scripts. - **[INFO]** Fonts are 433 KB — consider subsetting or using system fonts — Subset fonts to include only used characters, or switch to system font stacks. - **[INFO]** 59 HTTP requests - **[INFO]** Estimated 0.51 g CO2 per page load ### Third-Party Impact (D — 50/100) *90% third-party, 0 ms blocking* - **[WARNING]** Third-party code accounts for 90% of page weight (2.2 MiB of 2.4 MiB) - **[PASS]** Third-party blocking time is low (0 ms) ### Text Compression (A+ — 100/100) *All text resources are compressed* - **[PASS]** All text resources are compressed ### Image Optimization (B — 70/100) *4 images, 0 KB saveable* - **[WARNING]** https://peerj.com/assets/images/landing-pages/peer... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.peerj.com/images/j... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. ### JS Execution Cost (D — 40/100) *3465ms total JS execution* - **[WARNING]** https://cdn.peerj.com/cb040aa/webpack/peerj-app.6c...: 858ms CPU time - **[WARNING]** https://cdn.peerj.com/cb040aa/webpack/1042.5ccb850...: 604ms CPU time - **[WARNING]** Unattributable: 338ms CPU time - **[WARNING]** https://cdn.peerj.com/cb040aa/webpack/1009.ce1d475...: 324ms CPU time - **[WARNING]** https://cdn.peerj.com/cb040aa/webpack/398.8481fb5e...: 297ms CPU time - **[WARNING]** Third-party scripts: 3009ms (87% of total) ### Font Loading (A+ — 100/100) *3 fonts (433 KB)* - **[INFO]** 3 font(s) use font-display: swap (FOUT risk but functional) ### JS Bundles (F — 0/100) *25 scripts, 684 KB unused* - **[WARNING]** https://cdn.peerj.com/cb040aa/webpack/peerj-app.6c...: 469 KB unused (77%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code. - **[WARNING]** https://cdn.peerj.com/cb040aa/webpack/330.a5145fec...: 65 KB unused (49%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code. - **[WARNING]** https://peerj.com/js/8d39319-582a9a0.js: 50 KB unused (67%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code. - **[WARNING]** https://peerj.com/js/8d39319-582a9a0.js: unminified — 33 KB could be saved - **[WARNING]** https://peerj.com/js/f67db00-8264f27.js: 46 KB unused (49%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code. - **[WARNING]** https://peerj.com/js/f67db00-8264f27.js: unminified — 45 KB could be saved - **[WARNING]** https://transcend-cdn.com/cm/ef49a3f1-d8c1-47d6-88...: 28 KB unused (34%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code. - **[INFO]** Total unused JavaScript: 684 KB ### Resource Caching (A+ — 100/100) *All resources properly cached* - **[PASS]** No caching issues found ### Critical Rendering Path (A+ — 100/100) *No render-blocking resources* - **[PASS]** No render-blocking resources detected ### Resource Hints (A+ — 100/100) *6 hints, 0 missing preconnects* - **[PASS]** Page uses 6 resource hint(s) ### Page Weight Inventory (F — 30/100) *59 resources · 2.4 MB · 684 KB savings available* - **[WARNING]** Page weight 1.4 MB over 1MB target - **[INFO]** ~684 KB of savings available - **[WARNING]** 45 third-party resources (90% of weight) - **[INFO]** 3 resources over 200KB ### Render-Blocking Resources (A+ — 100/100) *No render-blocking resources detected* - **[PASS]** No render-blocking resources detected in ### Third-Party Resources (A+ — 100/100) *No third-party resources detected* --- ## Content Quality ### Links (F — 50/100) *95 links checked, 85 healthy, 10 broken* - **[CRITICAL]** 85 of 95 links are healthy - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/hubs — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/about/team — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/about/press — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/about/careers — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/new — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/pricing — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/accessibility — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/about/FAQ — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/about/contact — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://peerj.com/about/terms/ — Found in . Returns HTTP 429. ### Mixed Content (B — 80/100) *1 HTTP resource(s) loaded on HTTPS page* - **[CRITICAL]** HTTP link loaded on HTTPS page — Modern browsers block or warn about HTTP resources on HTTPS pages. Change the URL to use HTTPS. ### Open Graph (F — 0/100) *No Open Graph tags found — social sharing previews will be generic.* - **[WARNING]** No Open Graph meta tags found — Without og:title, og:description, and og:image, social media platforms will generate a generic preview when your page is shared. ### Structured Data (C — 40/100) *No structured data (JSON-LD) found.* - **[INFO]** No structured data (JSON-LD) found — Adding structured data helps search engines understand your content and can enable rich results. --- ## Infrastructure ### DNS Records (A+ — 100/100) *2 A records, 47 ms lookup* - **[PASS]** Resolves to 2 IPv4 address(es) - **[PASS]** Has 2 IPv6 (AAAA) record(s) - **[PASS]** 2 nameserver(s) configured - **[PASS]** 2 mail exchanger(s) configured - **[INFO]** CAA records not checked — CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update. - **[PASS]** SPF record present in TXT - **[PASS]** DNS resolution time: 47 ms ### Redirect Chain (A+ — 100/100) *No redirects — direct access* - **[PASS]** No redirects — direct access ### IPv6 Readiness (A+ — 100/100) *IPv6 reachable (17 ms)* - **[PASS]** IPv6 is configured and reachable at 2a06:98c1:3105::6812:27cb, 2a06:98c1:3103::ac40:9435 ### Crawlability (A+ — 100/100) *robots.txt present, sitemap with 2 URLs* - **[PASS]** robots.txt is present - **[PASS]** sitemap.xml is present - **[PASS]** sitemap.xml is valid XML - **[PASS]** sitemap.xml contains 2 entries - **[PASS]** Sitemap index with 2 child sitemaps - **[PASS]** robots.txt references sitemap ### URL Variants (A+ — 100/100) *www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS* - **[PASS]** www/non-www redirect configured correctly (preferred: non-www) - **[PASS]** HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS ### Domain Intelligence (A+ — 100/100) *peerj.com — via Amazon Registrar, Inc., 14 years, 4 months old* - **[PASS]** Domain registered until Feb 17, 2028 (1 years, 10 months remaining) - **[INFO]** DNSSEC is not enabled — DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it. - **[PASS]** Registrar: Amazon Registrar, Inc. - **[WARNING]** Registrar lock is NOT enabled — The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers. --- ## Compliance ### WCAG Compliance (A+ — 100/100) *No testable criteria* ### Cookie Consent & Privacy (A — 85/100) *No consent signals detected* - **[WARNING]** No privacy policy link detected — A privacy policy page is recommended for transparency and may be legally required. - **[PASS]** Terms of service link found - **[INFO]** No cookie consent banner detected - **[PASS]** 1 cookie(s) set on initial load (functional) - **[INFO]** This is an automated check, not legal advice — BeaverCheck detects technical indicators of consent management. This does not constitute a legal compliance assessment. Consult a privacy professional for GDPR/CCPA compliance. ### Language & i18n (A — 90/100) *Lang attribute present* - **[PASS]** attribute is present - **[PASS]** value is valid - **[INFO]** No Content-Language HTTP header - **[INFO]** Language signals are inconsistent — The attribute and Content-Language header should agree. ### Readability & Typography (A+ — 100/100) *Font sizes and tap targets checked* ### Viewport Configuration (A+ — 100/100) *Viewport properly configured* - **[PASS]** Viewport meta tag is present - **[PASS]** width=device-width is set - **[PASS]** User zooming is allowed ### Third-Party Trackers (C — 55/100) *5 trackers detected* - **[INFO]** 5 third-party trackers detected — Found 4 analytics, 0 advertising, 1 marketing, 0 tag manager trackers. - **[WARNING]** Trackers detected but no cookie policy found — This page loads 5 trackers but no cookie policy was detected. GDPR requires disclosure when using tracking cookies. - **[WARNING]** Trackers detected but no privacy policy found — Most data protection regulations require a privacy policy when collecting user data via trackers. ### Cookie & Tracker Inventory (A+ — 100/100) *1 cookies · 5 trackers · 0 pre-consent* - **[INFO]** 5 third-party tracker(s) detected on page --- ## Legal ### Legal Page Ecosystem (A — 85/100) *4 of 7 expected legal pages detected* - **[PASS]** Privacy Policy detected — Found at /about/privacy/, linked from footer. - **[PASS]** Terms of Service detected — Found at /about/terms/, linked from footer. - **[PASS]** Cookie Policy detected — Found at https://privacy.informa.com/policies/en/?name=informa-group-privacy-notice#cookies, linked from footer. - **[PASS]** Accessibility Statement detected — Found at /accessibility, linked from footer. - **[INFO]** DMCA / Copyright Notice not detected — No link matching common DMCA / Copyright Notice URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a DMCA / Copyright Notice, especially those collecting user data. - **[INFO]** Refund / Returns Policy not detected — No link matching common Refund / Returns Policy URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a Refund / Returns Policy, especially those collecting user data. - **[INFO]** Acceptable Use Policy not detected — No link matching common Acceptable Use Policy URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a Acceptable Use Policy, especially those collecting user data. ### Copyright Notice (A+ — 100/100) *© 2026 PeerJ All rights reserved Privacy Policy | Terms o* - **[PASS]** Copyright notice is up to date — Copyright notice is up to date: © 2026 PeerJ All rights reserved Privacy Policy | Terms o - **[PASS]** Copyright holder: PeerJ ### Regulatory Indicators *2 regulatory indicator(s) detected* - **[INFO]** This is a technical scan, not a legal assessment — BeaverCheck detects technical indicators that may suggest regulatory relevance. This is not a compliance audit and should not be relied upon for legal decisions. Consult qualified legal counsel for compliance assessments. - **[INFO]** GDPR indicators detected (moderate confidence) — Indicators suggesting GDPR may be relevant: Privacy policy page found. EU General Data Protection Regulation — governs collection and processing of personal data of EU residents. - **[INFO]** ADA indicators detected (moderate confidence) — Indicators suggesting ADA may be relevant: Accessibility statement page found. Americans with Disabilities Act / Section 508 — requires digital accessibility for people with disabilities. ### Third-Party Data Sharing *2 third-party service(s) detected* - **[INFO]** Data inventory for transparency purposes — This inventory identifies third-party services that receive data from your site visitors. Under regulations like GDPR (Article 30), maintaining records of data processing activities is commonly considered a best practice. This automated scan provides a starting point — it may not capture all data flows. - **[INFO]** 2 third-party services across 2 categories — 2 third-party services detected across 2 categories: Analytics (1), CDN (1). Each of these services receives some user data from your site visitors. - **[INFO]** Mixpanel (Analytics) — Detected via script URL. Typically collects: User events, Behavior analytics, Device info. Privacy policy: https://mixpanel.com/legal/privacy-policy/. Data Processing Agreement available. - **[INFO]** Cloudflare (CDN) — Detected via cookie name. Typically collects: IP address (transient), Request metadata. Privacy policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/. Data Processing Agreement available. ### Compliance Badges (B — 70/100) *1 compliance badge(s) detected* - **[PASS]** TRUSTe / TrustArc badge detected — Found via body text: 'truste'. Note: the presence of a badge does not verify the certification is current or valid. --- ## Availability ### CDN & Delivery (A — 85/100) *Cloudflare (DYNAMIC)* - **[PASS]** Site is served via Cloudflare CDN (edge: CDG) - **[INFO]** CDN cache status: DYNAMIC ### HTTP Caching (B — 80/100) *max-age=0, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate, public, s-maxage=600* - **[PASS]** Cache-Control header is set - **[PASS]** CDN TTL: 10 minutes (s-maxage=600) - **[PASS]** Last-Modified header present ### Transport Security (B — 75/100) *HTTP/3, HSTS, and TLS version analysis* - **[INFO]** HTTP/3 (QUIC) not advertised — HTTP/3 eliminates head-of-line blocking. If your CDN supports it, consider enabling it. - **[WARNING]** HSTS max-age is short: 30 days — HSTS max-age should be at least 1 year (31536000 seconds). - **[INFO]** HSTS missing includeSubDomains — Without includeSubDomains, HSTS only protects the exact domain. - **[PASS]** TLS 1.3 in use (fastest handshake, 1-RTT) --- ## Accessibility ### Landmark Structure (A+ — 100/100) *9 landmarks* - **[PASS]**
landmark present - **[PASS]** 1