diff --git a/gossip_tracer.go b/gossip_tracer.go
index bafb8f4dc1a3276910a7be3c595972d1873acf5c..6db3fd10113713fcb10506e36f753d7b726b932e 100644
--- a/gossip_tracer.go
+++ b/gossip_tracer.go
@@ -133,9 +133,9 @@ func (gt *gossipTracer) RejectMessage(msg *Message, reason string) {
 	// We do take exception and apply promise penalty regardless in the following cases, where
 	// the peer delivered an obviously invalid message.
 	switch reason {
-	case rejectMissingSignature:
+	case RejectMissingSignature:
 		return
-	case rejectInvalidSignature:
+	case RejectInvalidSignature:
 		return
 	}
 
diff --git a/peer_gater.go b/peer_gater.go
index 9cc6c984d27e3c7d51b1493dbfcb36b2db37fa34..0a00dedc648365cda43731dbaa4053a16390f9ce 100644
--- a/peer_gater.go
+++ b/peer_gater.go
@@ -411,13 +411,13 @@ func (pg *peerGater) RejectMessage(msg *Message, reason string) {
 	defer pg.Unlock()
 
 	switch reason {
-	case rejectValidationQueueFull:
+	case RejectValidationQueueFull:
 		fallthrough
-	case rejectValidationThrottled:
+	case RejectValidationThrottled:
 		pg.lastThrottle = time.Now()
 		pg.throttle++
 
-	case rejectValidationIgnored:
+	case RejectValidationIgnored:
 		st := pg.getPeerStats(msg.ReceivedFrom)
 		st.ignore++
 
diff --git a/peer_gater_test.go b/peer_gater_test.go
index bd0fbb639927e18ac205efd35b354340aa2966a0..9ab9d45918c4bdf9b3f0773ce80375228d1686aa 100644
--- a/peer_gater_test.go
+++ b/peer_gater_test.go
@@ -46,21 +46,21 @@ func TestPeerGater(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("expected AcceptAll")
 	}
 
-	pg.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationQueueFull)
+	pg.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationQueueFull)
 	status = pg.AcceptFrom(peerA)
 	if status != AcceptAll {
 		t.Fatal("expected AcceptAll")
 	}
 
-	pg.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationThrottled)
+	pg.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationThrottled)
 	status = pg.AcceptFrom(peerA)
 	if status != AcceptAll {
 		t.Fatal("expected AcceptAll")
 	}
 
 	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
-		pg.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationIgnored)
-		pg.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationFailed)
+		pg.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationIgnored)
+		pg.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationFailed)
 	}
 
 	accepted := false
diff --git a/pubsub.go b/pubsub.go
index fffff93feadf2f6e154cb5c1bd9e37378c23c4df..7ec045a896e7aebf6201a3f8a8ce99df3f4205e4 100644
--- a/pubsub.go
+++ b/pubsub.go
@@ -987,14 +987,14 @@ func (p *PubSub) pushMsg(msg *Message) {
 	// reject messages from blacklisted peers
 	if p.blacklist.Contains(src) {
 		log.Debugf("dropping message from blacklisted peer %s", src)
-		p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectBlacklstedPeer)
+		p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectBlacklstedPeer)
 		return
 	}
 
 	// even if they are forwarded by good peers
 	if p.blacklist.Contains(msg.GetFrom()) {
 		log.Debugf("dropping message from blacklisted source %s", src)
-		p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectBlacklistedSource)
+		p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectBlacklistedSource)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -1003,7 +1003,7 @@ func (p *PubSub) pushMsg(msg *Message) {
 		if p.signPolicy.mustSign() {
 			if msg.Signature == nil {
 				log.Debugf("dropping unsigned message from %s", src)
-				p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectMissingSignature)
+				p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectMissingSignature)
 				return
 			}
 			// Actual signature verification happens in the validation pipeline,
@@ -1012,7 +1012,7 @@ func (p *PubSub) pushMsg(msg *Message) {
 		} else {
 			if msg.Signature != nil {
 				log.Debugf("dropping message with unexpected signature from %s", src)
-				p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectUnexpectedSignature)
+				p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectUnexpectedSignature)
 				return
 			}
 			// If we are expecting signed messages, and not authoring messages,
@@ -1022,7 +1022,7 @@ func (p *PubSub) pushMsg(msg *Message) {
 			if p.signID == "" {
 				if msg.Seqno != nil || msg.From != nil || msg.Key != nil {
 					log.Debugf("dropping message with unexpected auth info from %s", src)
-					p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectUnexpectedAuthInfo)
+					p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectUnexpectedAuthInfo)
 					return
 				}
 			}
@@ -1033,7 +1033,7 @@ func (p *PubSub) pushMsg(msg *Message) {
 	self := p.host.ID()
 	if peer.ID(msg.GetFrom()) == self && src != self {
 		log.Debugf("dropping message claiming to be from self but forwarded from %s", src)
-		p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectSelfOrigin)
+		p.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectSelfOrigin)
 		return
 	}
 
diff --git a/score.go b/score.go
index 75f9e27f83b0384f42fcc713d01e976bd999b784..e02339b602acbd1cc2194c269b2e4b6730a00a48 100644
--- a/score.go
+++ b/score.go
@@ -722,25 +722,25 @@ func (ps *peerScore) RejectMessage(msg *Message, reason string) {
 
 	switch reason {
 	// we don't track those messages, but we penalize the peer as they are clearly invalid
-	case rejectMissingSignature:
+	case RejectMissingSignature:
 		fallthrough
-	case rejectInvalidSignature:
+	case RejectInvalidSignature:
 		fallthrough
-	case rejectUnexpectedSignature:
+	case RejectUnexpectedSignature:
 		fallthrough
-	case rejectUnexpectedAuthInfo:
+	case RejectUnexpectedAuthInfo:
 		fallthrough
-	case rejectSelfOrigin:
+	case RejectSelfOrigin:
 		ps.markInvalidMessageDelivery(msg.ReceivedFrom, msg)
 		return
 
 		// we ignore those messages, so do nothing.
-	case rejectBlacklstedPeer:
+	case RejectBlacklstedPeer:
 		fallthrough
-	case rejectBlacklistedSource:
+	case RejectBlacklistedSource:
 		return
 
-	case rejectValidationQueueFull:
+	case RejectValidationQueueFull:
 		// the message was rejected before it entered the validation pipeline;
 		// we don't know if this message has a valid signature, and thus we also don't know if
 		// it has a valid message ID; all we can do is ignore it.
@@ -756,14 +756,14 @@ func (ps *peerScore) RejectMessage(msg *Message, reason string) {
 	}
 
 	switch reason {
-	case rejectValidationThrottled:
+	case RejectValidationThrottled:
 		// if we reject with "validation throttled" we don't penalize the peer(s) that forward it
 		// because we don't know if it was valid.
 		drec.status = deliveryThrottled
 		// release the delivery time tracking map to free some memory early
 		drec.peers = nil
 		return
-	case rejectValidationIgnored:
+	case RejectValidationIgnored:
 		// we were explicitly instructed by the validator to ignore the message but not penalize
 		// the peer
 		drec.status = deliveryIgnored
diff --git a/score_test.go b/score_test.go
index 76d95bfde31e78e833c02231f9622cfa3e73a9df..849f8be55577369b31eefe0e6b94063bb8800ff4 100644
--- a/score_test.go
+++ b/score_test.go
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ func TestScoreInvalidMessageDeliveries(t *testing.T) {
 		pbMsg := makeTestMessage(i)
 		pbMsg.Topic = &mytopic
 		msg := Message{ReceivedFrom: peerA, Message: pbMsg}
-		ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectInvalidSignature)
+		ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectInvalidSignature)
 	}
 
 	ps.refreshScores()
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ func TestScoreInvalidMessageDeliveriesDecay(t *testing.T) {
 		pbMsg := makeTestMessage(i)
 		pbMsg.Topic = &mytopic
 		msg := Message{ReceivedFrom: peerA, Message: pbMsg}
-		ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectInvalidSignature)
+		ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectInvalidSignature)
 	}
 
 	ps.refreshScores()
@@ -561,9 +561,9 @@ func TestScoreRejectMessageDeliveries(t *testing.T) {
 	msg2 := Message{ReceivedFrom: peerB, Message: pbMsg}
 
 	// these should have no effect in the score
-	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectBlacklstedPeer)
-	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectBlacklistedSource)
-	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectValidationQueueFull)
+	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectBlacklstedPeer)
+	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectBlacklistedSource)
+	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectValidationQueueFull)
 
 	aScore := ps.Score(peerA)
 	expected := 0.0
@@ -576,7 +576,7 @@ func TestScoreRejectMessageDeliveries(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// this should have no effect in the score, and subsequent duplicate messages should have no
 	// effect either
-	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectValidationThrottled)
+	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectValidationThrottled)
 	ps.DuplicateMessage(&msg2)
 
 	aScore = ps.Score(peerA)
@@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ func TestScoreRejectMessageDeliveries(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// this should have no effect in the score, and subsequent duplicate messages should have no
 	// effect either
-	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectValidationIgnored)
+	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectValidationIgnored)
 	ps.DuplicateMessage(&msg2)
 
 	aScore = ps.Score(peerA)
@@ -625,7 +625,7 @@ func TestScoreRejectMessageDeliveries(t *testing.T) {
 	ps.ValidateMessage(&msg)
 
 	// and reject the message to make sure duplicates are also penalized
-	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectValidationFailed)
+	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectValidationFailed)
 	ps.DuplicateMessage(&msg2)
 
 	aScore = ps.Score(peerA)
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ func TestScoreRejectMessageDeliveries(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// and reject the message after a duplciate has arrived
 	ps.DuplicateMessage(&msg2)
-	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectValidationFailed)
+	ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectValidationFailed)
 
 	aScore = ps.Score(peerA)
 	expected = -4.0
@@ -1032,7 +1032,7 @@ func TestScoreResetTopicParams(t *testing.T) {
 		pbMsg.Topic = &mytopic
 		msg := Message{ReceivedFrom: peerA, Message: pbMsg}
 		ps.ValidateMessage(&msg)
-		ps.RejectMessage(&msg, rejectValidationFailed)
+		ps.RejectMessage(&msg, RejectValidationFailed)
 	}
 
 	// check the topic score
diff --git a/tag_tracer.go b/tag_tracer.go
index a04472b5107b1d6ff4af2bf36f352f8a84a7a062..bd6d5e20d0a914b0ef92ab584003a7ab33b2ba04 100644
--- a/tag_tracer.go
+++ b/tag_tracer.go
@@ -242,11 +242,11 @@ func (t *tagTracer) RejectMessage(msg *Message, reason string) {
 	// the validation pipeline. Other rejection reasons (missing signature, etc) skip the validation
 	// queue, so we don't want to remove the state in case the message is still validating.
 	switch reason {
-	case rejectValidationThrottled:
+	case RejectValidationThrottled:
 		fallthrough
-	case rejectValidationIgnored:
+	case RejectValidationIgnored:
 		fallthrough
-	case rejectValidationFailed:
+	case RejectValidationFailed:
 		delete(t.nearFirst, t.msgID(msg.Message))
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tracer.go b/tracer.go
index eca3f1783f839da2ffaf941cfded047e899012ca..0f0b090fa4090be53eb615d3cb7ac5165d70c47f 100644
--- a/tracer.go
+++ b/tracer.go
@@ -25,17 +25,17 @@ var MinTraceBatchSize = 16
 
 // rejection reasons
 const (
-	rejectBlacklstedPeer      = "blacklisted peer"
-	rejectBlacklistedSource   = "blacklisted source"
-	rejectMissingSignature    = "missing signature"
-	rejectUnexpectedSignature = "unexpected signature"
-	rejectUnexpectedAuthInfo  = "unexpected auth info"
-	rejectInvalidSignature    = "invalid signature"
-	rejectValidationQueueFull = "validation queue full"
-	rejectValidationThrottled = "validation throttled"
-	rejectValidationFailed    = "validation failed"
-	rejectValidationIgnored   = "validation ignored"
-	rejectSelfOrigin          = "self originated message"
+	RejectBlacklstedPeer      = "blacklisted peer"
+	RejectBlacklistedSource   = "blacklisted source"
+	RejectMissingSignature    = "missing signature"
+	RejectUnexpectedSignature = "unexpected signature"
+	RejectUnexpectedAuthInfo  = "unexpected auth info"
+	RejectInvalidSignature    = "invalid signature"
+	RejectValidationQueueFull = "validation queue full"
+	RejectValidationThrottled = "validation throttled"
+	RejectValidationFailed    = "validation failed"
+	RejectValidationIgnored   = "validation ignored"
+	RejectSelfOrigin          = "self originated message"
 )
 
 type basicTracer struct {
diff --git a/validation.go b/validation.go
index 7b69ee34d4a161b64a822fbd60a0e70dfe306cf0..328b53a0241b5fd124a3c89dc384c5e82c60ca09 100644
--- a/validation.go
+++ b/validation.go
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ func (v *validation) Push(src peer.ID, msg *Message) bool {
 		case v.validateQ <- &validateReq{vals, src, msg}:
 		default:
 			log.Debugf("message validation throttled: queue full; dropping message from %s", src)
-			v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationQueueFull)
+			v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationQueueFull)
 		}
 		return false
 	}
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ func (v *validation) validate(vals []*topicVal, src peer.ID, msg *Message) {
 	if msg.Signature != nil {
 		if !v.validateSignature(msg) {
 			log.Debugf("message signature validation failed; dropping message from %s", src)
-			v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectInvalidSignature)
+			v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectInvalidSignature)
 			return
 		}
 	}
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ loop:
 
 	if result == ValidationReject {
 		log.Debugf("message validation failed; dropping message from %s", src)
-		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationFailed)
+		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationFailed)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -296,13 +296,13 @@ loop:
 			}()
 		default:
 			log.Debugf("message validation throttled; dropping message from %s", src)
-			v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationThrottled)
+			v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationThrottled)
 		}
 		return
 	}
 
 	if result == ValidationIgnore {
-		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationIgnored)
+		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationIgnored)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -332,15 +332,15 @@ func (v *validation) doValidateTopic(vals []*topicVal, src peer.ID, msg *Message
 		v.p.sendMsg <- msg
 	case ValidationReject:
 		log.Debugf("message validation failed; dropping message from %s", src)
-		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationFailed)
+		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationFailed)
 		return
 	case ValidationIgnore:
 		log.Debugf("message validation punted; ignoring message from %s", src)
-		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationIgnored)
+		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationIgnored)
 		return
 	case validationThrottled:
 		log.Debugf("message validation throttled; ignoring message from %s", src)
-		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, rejectValidationThrottled)
+		v.tracer.RejectMessage(msg, RejectValidationThrottled)
 
 	default:
 		// BUG: this would be an internal programming error, so a panic seems appropiate.