What Is a Good Method for Sharing Your Response in a Peer Review? Answerscom
EJIFCC. 2014 Oct; 25(iii): 227–243.
Published online 2014 Oct 24.
Peer Review in Scientific Publications: Benefits, Critiques, & A Survival Guide
Jacalyn Kelly
1Clinical Biochemistry, Department of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Infirmary for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tara Sadeghieh
iClinical Biochemistry, Department of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Khosrow Adeli
aneClinical Biochemistry, Department of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Infirmary for Ill Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2Section of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
3Chair, Communications and Publications Division (CPD), International Federation for Ill Clinical Chemistry (IFCC), Milan, Italia
Abstruse
Peer review has been divers equally a procedure of subjecting an writer'south scholarly piece of work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field. It functions to encourage authors to meet the accepted high standards of their discipline and to control the broadcasting of research data to ensure that unwarranted claims, unacceptable interpretations or personal views are not published without prior skillful review. Despite its broad-spread use by most journals, the peer review process has also been widely criticised due to the slowness of the process to publish new findings and due to perceived bias by the editors and/or reviewers. Within the scientific customs, peer review has become an essential component of the academic writing procedure. Information technology helps ensure that papers published in scientific journals answer meaningful research questions and draw accurate conclusions based on professionally executed experimentation. Submission of low quality manuscripts has get increasingly prevalent, and peer review acts every bit a filter to prevent this work from reaching the scientific community. The major advantage of a peer review process is that peer-reviewed manufactures provide a trusted form of scientific communication. Since scientific knowledge is cumulative and builds on itself, this trust is especially important. Despite the positive impacts of peer review, critics fence that the peer review process stifles innovation in experimentation, and acts as a poor screen confronting plagiarism. Despite its downfalls, there has non yet been a foolproof system adult to take the identify of peer review, however, researchers have been looking into electronic means of improving the peer review process. Unfortunately, the recent explosion in online only/electronic journals has led to mass publication of a large number of scientific articles with little or no peer review. This poses significant adventure to advances in scientific knowledge and its hereafter potential. The current article summarizes the peer review process, highlights the pros and cons associated with different types of peer review, and describes new methods for improving peer review.
Fundamental words: peer review, manuscript, publication, journal, open up admission
WHAT IS PEER REVIEW AND WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?
Peer Review is divers equally "a process of subjecting an author's scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field" (1). Peer review is intended to serve two main purposes. Firstly, it acts as a filter to ensure that only high quality inquiry is published, particularly in reputable journals, by determining the validity, significance and originality of the report. Secondly, peer review is intended to improve the quality of manuscripts that are deemed suitable for publication. Peer reviewers provide suggestions to authors on how to ameliorate the quality of their manuscripts, and too place whatever errors that demand correcting before publication.
HISTORY OF PEER REVIEW
The concept of peer review was developed long before the scholarly journal. In fact, the peer review process is thought to take been used as a method of evaluating written work since aboriginal Greece (2). The peer review process was first described by a medico named Ishaq bin Ali al-Rahwi of Syrian arab republic, who lived from 854-931 CE, in his book Ethics of the Physician (2). At that place, he stated that physicians must take notes describing the state of their patients' medical conditions upon each visit. Post-obit treatment, the notes were scrutinized past a local medical council to make up one's mind whether the doctor had met the required standards of medical care. If the medical council accounted that the appropriate standards were not met, the physician in question could receive a lawsuit from the maltreated patient (2).
The invention of the printing press in 1453 immune written documents to exist distributed to the general public (3). At this fourth dimension, it became more important to regulate the quality of the written material that became publicly available, and editing by peers increased in prevalence. In 1620, Francis Bacon wrote the piece of work Novum Organum, where he described what eventually became known equally the kickoff universal method for generating and assessing new science (3). His piece of work was instrumental in shaping the Scientific Method (iii). In 1665, the French Journal des sçavans and the English Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society were the kickoff scientific journals to systematically publish research results (4). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Gild is thought to be the first periodical to formalize the peer review procedure in 1665 (5), however, information technology is important to notation that peer review was initially introduced to help editors decide which manuscripts to publish in their journals, and at that fourth dimension information technology did not serve to ensure the validity of the research (6). It did not take long for the peer review process to evolve, and before long thereafter papers were distributed to reviewers with the intent of authenticating the integrity of the inquiry report before publication. The Royal Society of Edinburgh adhered to the following peer review process, published in their Medical Essays and Observations in 1731: "Memoirs sent past correspondence are distributed co-ordinate to the discipline thing to those members who are nearly versed in these matters. The study of their identity is not known to the author." (7). The Purple Gild of London adopted this review process in 1752 and developed the "Committee on Papers" to review manuscripts before they were published in Philosophical Transactions (half dozen).
Peer review in the systematized and institutionalized class has adult immensely since the Second World War, at least partly due to the large increase in scientific research during this catamenia (7). It is now used non only to ensure that a scientific manuscript is experimentally and ethically sound, but also to determine which papers sufficiently meet the journal's standards of quality and originality before publication. Peer review is now standard practice by most apparent scientific journals, and is an essential office of determining the brownie and quality of work submitted.
Impact OF THE PEER REVIEW Process
Peer review has become the foundation of the scholarly publication system because information technology effectively subjects an author's piece of work to the scrutiny of other experts in the field. Thus, information technology encourages authors to strive to produce high quality research that will advance the field. Peer review also supports and maintains integrity and actuality in the advocacy of science. A scientific hypothesis or statement is generally not accepted by the academic customs unless it has been published in a peer-reviewed periodical (eight). The Establish for Scientific Information (ISI) only considers journals that are peer-reviewed as candidates to receive Impact Factors. Peer review is a well-established process which has been a formal part of scientific advice for over 300 years.
OVERVIEW OF THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS
The peer review process begins when a scientist completes a research study and writes a manuscript that describes the purpose, experimental design, results, and conclusions of the written report. The scientist then submits this newspaper to a suitable journal that specializes in a relevant research field, a step referred to as pre-submission. The editors of the journal will review the paper to ensure that the discipline matter is in line with that of the journal, and that it fits with the editorial platform. Very few papers laissez passer this initial evaluation. If the journal editors feel the paper sufficiently meets these requirements and is written by a credible source, they volition send the paper to accomplished researchers in the field for a formal peer review. Peer reviewers are also known as referees (this process is summarized in Effigy 1). The function of the editor is to select the virtually appropriate manuscripts for the journal, and to implement and monitor the peer review process. Editors must ensure that peer reviews are conducted fairly, and in an effective and timely manner. They must too ensure that there are no conflicts of interest involved in the peer review procedure.
Overview of the review procedure
When a reviewer is provided with a paper, he or she reads it carefully and scrutinizes it to evaluate the validity of the science, the quality of the experimental design, and the ceremoniousness of the methods used. The reviewer also assesses the significance of the research, and judges whether the piece of work will contribute to advancement in the field by evaluating the importance of the findings, and determining the originality of the research. Additionally, reviewers identify any scientific errors and references that are missing or incorrect. Peer reviewers requite recommendations to the editor regarding whether the newspaper should be accepted, rejected, or improved before publication in the periodical. The editor will mediate writer-referee give-and-take in society to clarify the priority of certain referee requests, propose areas that can be strengthened, and overrule reviewer recommendations that are beyond the written report'southward scope (9). If the paper is accustomed, as per suggestion past the peer reviewer, the paper goes into the production stage, where information technology is tweaked and formatted by the editors, and finally published in the scientific journal. An overview of the review process is presented in Effigy 1.
WHO CONDUCTS REVIEWS?
Peer reviews are conducted past scientific experts with specialized cognition on the content of the manuscript, every bit well every bit past scientists with a more full general cognition base. Peer reviewers tin can exist anyone who has competence and expertise in the discipline areas that the journal covers. Reviewers can range from young and up-and-coming researchers to quondam masters in the field. Often, the young reviewers are the most responsive and deliver the best quality reviews, though this is not always the case. On average, a reviewer volition conduct approximately eight reviews per year, according to a study on peer review by the Publishing Enquiry Consortium (PRC) (7). Journals volition often have a pool of reviewers with diverse backgrounds to let for many unlike perspectives. They will likewise go along a rather large reviewer banking company, so that reviewers do not become burnt out, overwhelmed or fourth dimension constrained from reviewing multiple manufactures simultaneously.
WHY DO REVIEWERS REVIEW?
Referees are typically non paid to conduct peer reviews and the procedure takes considerable effort, so the question is raised as to what incentive referees accept to review at all. Some feel an academic duty to perform reviews, and are of the mentality that if their peers are expected to review their papers, then they should review the work of their peers too. Reviewers may also have personal contacts with editors, and may want to assist equally much as possible. Others review to keep upwardly-to-date with the latest developments in their field, and reading new scientific papers is an effective mode to do so. Some scientists employ peer review as an opportunity to advance their own inquiry every bit information technology stimulates new ideas and allows them to read about new experimental techniques. Other reviewers are keen on building associations with prestigious journals and editors and condign office of their community, as sometimes reviewers who show dedication to the journal are later hired as editors. Some scientists run into peer review as a hazard to go aware of the latest research before their peers, and thus be first to develop new insights from the cloth. Finally, in terms of career development, peer reviewing tin be desirable as it is often noted on 1'due south resume or CV. Many institutions consider a researcher's involvement in peer review when assessing their operation for promotions (eleven). Peer reviewing can likewise be an effective way for a scientist to show their superiors that they are committed to their scientific field (5).
ARE REVIEWERS Swell TO REVIEW?
A 2009 international survey of 4000 peer reviewers conducted by the charity Sense About Scientific discipline at the British Scientific discipline Festival at the University of Surrey, found that 90% of reviewers were corking to peer review (12). One third of respondents to the survey said they were happy to review upwards to five papers per year, and an additional one third of respondents were happy to review up to 10.
HOW LONG DOES Information technology TAKE TO REVIEW ONE PAPER?
On average, it takes approximately half dozen hours to review ane newspaper (12), yet, this number may vary profoundly depending on the content of the paper and the nature of the peer reviewer. I in every 100 participants in the "Sense About Science" survey claims to accept taken more than 100 hours to review their final paper (12).
HOW TO Decide IF A JOURNAL IS PEER REVIEWED
Ulrichsweb is a directory that provides information on over 300,000 periodicals, including information regarding which journals are peer reviewed (13). Afterward logging into the organisation using an institutional login (eg. from the Academy of Toronto), search terms, journal titles or ISSN numbers can be entered into the search bar. The database provides the title, publisher, and country of origin of the journal, and indicates whether the journal is even so actively publishing. The black volume symbol (labelled 'refereed') reveals that the journal is peer reviewed.
THE EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR PEER REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
As previously mentioned, when a reviewer receives a scientific manuscript, he/she will showtime determine if the subject area matter is well suited for the content of the journal. The reviewer will then consider whether the research question is important and original, a procedure which may be aided by a literature browse of review articles.
Scientific papers submitted for peer review usually follow a specific structure that begins with the title, followed by the abstruse, introduction, methodology, results, word, conclusions, and references. The title must be descriptive and include the concept and organism investigated, and potentially the variable manipulated and the systems used in the written report. The peer reviewer evaluates if the title is descriptive enough, and ensures that it is clear and concise. A report by the National Clan of Realtors (NAR) published by the Oxford University Press in 2006 indicated that the championship of a manuscript plays a meaning role in determining reader interest, as 72% of respondents said they could commonly guess whether an article will be of interest to them based on the championship and the author, while thirteen% of respondents claimed to e'er be able to practise so (14).
The abstruse is a summary of the newspaper, which briefly mentions the background or purpose, methods, key results, and major conclusions of the report. The peer reviewer assesses whether the abstract is sufficiently informative and if the content of the abstract is consequent with the rest of the paper. The NAR study indicated that 40% of respondents could determine whether an commodity would be of involvement to them based on the abstract alone sixty-80% of the fourth dimension, while 32% could judge an commodity based on the abstract 80-100% of the fourth dimension (xiv). This demonstrates that the abstract alone is frequently used to assess the value of an commodity.
The introduction of a scientific newspaper presents the research question in the context of what is already known well-nigh the topic, in order to identify why the question beingness studied is of interest to the scientific community, and what gap in knowledge the study aims to fill (15). The introduction identifies the study's purpose and scope, briefly describes the full general methods of investigation, and outlines the hypothesis and predictions (15). The peer reviewer determines whether the introduction provides sufficient background information on the inquiry topic, and ensures that the enquiry question and hypothesis are clearly identifiable.
The methods section describes the experimental procedures, and explains why each experiment was conducted. The methods section as well includes the equipment and reagents used in the investigation. The methods section should exist detailed enough that it tin be used it to repeat the experiment (15). Methods are written in the past tense and in the active voice. The peer reviewer assesses whether the advisable methods were used to answer the enquiry question, and if they were written with sufficient detail. If information is missing from the methods department, information technology is the peer reviewer's job to identify what details need to exist added.
The results department is where the outcomes of the experiment and trends in the information are explained without sentence, bias or interpretation (15). This department can include statistical tests performed on the information, every bit well as figures and tables in addition to the text. The peer reviewer ensures that the results are described with sufficient detail, and determines their credibility. Reviewers also confirm that the text is consistent with the information presented in tables and figures, and that all figures and tables included are important and relevant (15). The peer reviewer will too make sure that table and figure captions are advisable both contextually and in length, and that tables and figures present the information accurately.
The discussion section is where the information is analyzed. Here, the results are interpreted and related to past studies (xv). The give-and-take describes the pregnant and significance of the results in terms of the research question and hypothesis, and states whether the hypothesis was supported or rejected. This section may also provide possible explanations for unusual results and suggestions for future enquiry (fifteen). The discussion should end with a conclusions section that summarizes the major findings of the investigation. The peer reviewer determines whether the discussion is clear and focused, and whether the conclusions are an appropriate estimation of the results. Reviewers too ensure that the discussion addresses the limitations of the study, whatsoever anomalies in the results, the relationship of the study to previous research, and the theoretical implications and practical applications of the study.
The references are found at the cease of the paper, and list all of the data sources cited in the text to describe the groundwork, methods, and/or translate results. Depending on the citation method used, the references are listed in alphabetical order co-ordinate to author final name, or numbered according to the lodge in which they appear in the paper. The peer reviewer ensures that references are used appropriately, cited accurately, formatted correctly, and that none are missing.
Finally, the peer reviewer determines whether the paper is clearly written and if the content seems logical. After thoroughly reading through the entire manuscript, they determine whether information technology meets the journal's standards for publication,
and whether it falls within the top 25% of papers in its field (sixteen) to decide priority for publication. An overview of what a peer reviewer looks for when evaluating a manuscript, in guild of importance, is presented in Figure 2.
How a peer review evaluates a manuscript
To increase the adventure of success in the peer review procedure, the author must ensure that the paper fully complies with the journal guidelines earlier submission. The author must also exist open to criticism and suggested revisions, and learn from mistakes fabricated in previous submissions.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEER REVIEW
The peer review process is by and large conducted in 1 of three means: open up review, unmarried-bullheaded review, or double-blind review. In an open review, both the author of the newspaper and the peer reviewer know one some other'southward identity. Alternatively, in single-bullheaded review, the reviewer's identity is kept private, simply the author'southward identity is revealed to the reviewer. In double-bullheaded review, the identities of both the reviewer and author are kept anonymous. Open up peer review is advantageous in that it prevents the reviewer from leaving malicious comments, beingness careless, or procrastinating completion of the review (2). Information technology encourages reviewers to exist open up and honest without being disrespectful. Open reviewing also discourages plagiarism amongst authors (2). On the other mitt, open peer review can also prevent reviewers from being honest for fear of developing bad rapport with the author. The reviewer may withhold or tone downwardly their criticisms in gild to be polite (2). This is especially true when younger reviewers are given a more esteemed author's work, in which case the reviewer may be hesitant to provide criticism for fright that it will damper their relationship with a superior (2). According to the Sense About Science survey, editors find that completely open up reviewing decreases the number of people willing to participate, and leads to reviews of little value (12). In the aforementioned report past the PRC, only 23% of authors surveyed had experience with open peer review (7).
Single-blind peer review is by far the about common. In the PRC report, 85% of authors surveyed had experience with single-blind peer review (7). This method is advantageous as the reviewer is more likely to provide honest feedback when their identity is concealed (2). This allows the reviewer to brand contained decisions without the influence of the author (2). The main disadvantage of reviewer anonymity, yet, is that reviewers who receive manuscripts on subjects similar to their own enquiry may be tempted to filibuster completing the review in club to publish their ain data first (2).
Double-blind peer review is advantageous as it prevents the reviewer from being biased against the author based on their country of origin or previous work (2). This allows the paper to be judged based on the quality of the content, rather than the reputation of the author. The Sense Near Science survey indicates that 76% of researchers recollect double-bullheaded peer review is a expert idea (12), and the PRC survey indicates that 45% of authors have had experience with double-blind peer review (7). The disadvantage of double-blind peer review is that, especially in niche areas of research, information technology tin can sometimes exist piece of cake for the reviewer to determine the identity of the author based on writing style, subject field matter or cocky-commendation, and thus, impart bias (2).
Masking the author's identity from peer reviewers, as is the case in double-blind review, is generally thought to minimize bias and maintain review quality. A study by Justice et al. in 1998 investigated whether masking author identity affected the quality of the review (17). One hundred and eighteen manuscripts were randomized; 26 were peer reviewed as normal, and 92 were moved into the 'intervention' arm, where editor quality assessments were completed for 77 manuscripts and author quality assessments were completed for forty manuscripts (17). There was no perceived divergence in quality between the masked and unmasked reviews. Additionally, the masking itself was ofttimes unsuccessful, especially with well-known authors (17). However, a previous study conducted by McNutt et al. had unlike results (18). In this example, blinding was successful 73% of the time, and they establish that when author identity was masked, the quality of review was slightly higher (eighteen). Although Justice et al. argued that this difference was too modest to be consequential, their study targeted merely biomedical journals, and the results cannot be generalized to journals of a different subject matter (17). Additionally, at that place were problems masking the identities of well-known authors, introducing a flaw in the methods. Regardless, Justice et al. concluded that masking author identity from reviewers may not meliorate review quality (17).
In addition to open, single-blind and double-blind peer review, there are 2 experimental forms of peer review. In some cases, following publication, papers may be subjected to mail-publication peer review. As many papers are now published online, the scientific customs has the opportunity to comment on these papers, engage in online discussions and mail service a formal review. For example, online publishers PLOS and BioMed Central have enabled scientists to postal service comments on published papers if they are registered users of the site (10). Philica is another periodical launched with this experimental form of peer review. Only 8% of authors surveyed in the PRC study had experience with post-publication review (7). Another experimental form of peer review called Dynamic Peer Review has also emerged. Dynamic peer review is conducted on websites such equally Naboj, which permit scientists to carry peer reviews on articles in the preprint media (nineteen). The peer review is conducted on repositories and is a continuous process, which allows the public to see both the article and the reviews equally the article is being adult (19). Dynamic peer review helps forestall plagiarism every bit the scientific community volition already be familiar with the work before the peer reviewed version appears in print (19). Dynamic review likewise reduces the time lag betwixt manuscript submission and publishing. An example of a preprint server is the 'arXiv' developed past Paul Ginsparg in 1991, which is used primarily by physicists (19). These alternative forms of peer review are still un-established and experimental. Traditional peer review is fourth dimension-tested and still highly utilized. All methods of peer review accept their advantages and deficiencies, and all are prone to error.
PEER REVIEW OF Open up Admission JOURNALS
Open access (OA) journals are becoming increasingly popular as they allow the potential for widespread distribution of publications in a timely manner (20). Notwithstanding, there can exist bug regarding the peer review procedure of open access journals. In a study published in Science in 2013, John Bohannon submitted 304 slightly different versions of a fictional scientific paper (written by a fake writer, working out of a not-existent institution) to a selected group of OA journals. This study was performed in gild to determine whether papers submitted to OA journals are properly reviewed before publication in comparing to subscription-based journals. The journals in this report were selected from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Biall's List, a list of journals which are potentially predatory, and all required a fee for publishing (21). Of the 304 journals, 157 accepted a fake paper, suggesting that credence was based on financial interest rather than the quality of commodity itself, while 98 journals promptly rejected the fakes (21). Although this report highlights useful information on the problems associated with lower quality publishers that do not have an effective peer review system in place, the article also generalizes the study results to all OA journals, which can be detrimental to the general perception of OA journals. At that place were ii limitations of the study that fabricated it impossible to accurately decide the human relationship between peer review and OA journals: 1) there was no control group (subscription-based journals), and 2) the fake papers were sent to a not-randomized option of journals, resulting in bias.
Periodical ACCEPTANCE RATES
Based on a contempo survey, the average acceptance rate for papers submitted to scientific journals is most 50% (7). Xx percent of the submitted manuscripts that are non accepted are rejected prior to review, and 30% are rejected following review (7). Of the 50% accepted, 41% are accepted with the condition of revision, while only 9% are accepted without the request for revision (7).
SATISFACTION WITH THE PEER REVIEW SYSTEM
Based on a contempo survey past the Cathay, 64% of academics are satisfied with the current system of peer review, and only 12% claimed to be 'dissatisfied' (7). The large majority, 85%, agreed with the statement that 'scientific communication is profoundly helped past peer review' (7). There was a similarly high level of back up (83%) for the thought that peer review 'provides control in scientific advice' (seven).
HOW TO PEER REVIEW Finer
The following are ten tips on how to be an effective peer reviewer every bit indicated past Brian Lucey, an adept on the field of study (22):
i) Be professional
Peer review is a mutual responsibleness amidst fellow scientists, and scientists are expected, as part of the bookish community, to take function in peer review. If ane is to expect others to review their work, they should commit to reviewing the work of others also, and put endeavor into it.
ii) Exist pleasant
If the paper is of depression quality, suggest that it be rejected, but practise not leave ad hominem comments. There is no do good to being ruthless.
iii) Read the invite
When emailing a scientist to ask them to conduct a peer review, the majority of journals will provide a link to either take or reject. Do not reply to the e-mail, answer to the link.
four) Be helpful
Advise how the authors tin can overcome the shortcomings in their newspaper. A review should guide the author on what is good and what needs work from the reviewer's perspective.
v) Be scientific
The peer reviewer plays the role of a scientific peer, not an editor for proofreading or conclusion-making. Don't fill up a review with comments on editorial and typographic issues. Instead, focus on adding value with scientific knowledge and commenting on the credibility of the research conducted and conclusions drawn. If the paper has a lot of typographical errors, suggest that it exist professionally proof edited equally part of the review.
half-dozen) Be timely
Stick to the timeline given when conducting a peer review. Editors track who is reviewing what and when and will know if someone is late on completing a review. It is important to be timely both out of respect for the journal and the author, besides every bit to not develop a reputation of being late for review deadlines.
7) Be realistic
The peer reviewer must be realistic about the piece of work presented, the changes they suggest and their role. Peer reviewers may gear up the bar too loftier for the paper they are editing by proposing changes that are besides ambitious and editors must override them.
8) Be empathetic
Ensure that the review is scientific, helpful and courteous. Be sensitive and respectful with word choice and tone in a review.
9) Be open
Recollect that both specialists and generalists can provide valuable insight when peer reviewing. Editors will try to get both specialised and full general reviewers for any particular paper to allow for different perspectives. If someone is asked to review, the editor has adamant they have a valid and useful role to play, fifty-fifty if the paper is non in their area of expertise.
x) Be organised
A review requires structure and logical flow. A reviewer should proofread their review before submitting information technology for structural, grammatical and spelling errors every bit well equally for clarity. Most publishers provide short guides on structuring a peer review on their website. Begin with an overview of the proposed improvements; then provide feedback on the newspaper construction, the quality of information sources and methods of investigation used, the logical period of argument, and the validity of conclusions drawn. And so provide feedback on manner, voice and lexical concerns, with suggestions on how to improve.
In addition, the American Physiology Club (APS) recommends in its Peer Review 101 Handout that peer reviewers should put themselves in both the editor's and writer's shoes to ensure that they provide what both the editor and the author need and expect (11). To please the editor, the reviewer should ensure that the peer review is completed on time, and that it provides clear explanations to back upwardly recommendations. To be helpful to the author, the reviewer must ensure that their feedback is constructive. It is suggested that the reviewer take time to think virtually the newspaper; they should read information technology once, wait at least a day, and so re-read it before writing the review (11). The APS likewise suggests that Graduate students and researchers pay attention to how peer reviewers edit their piece of work, as well as to what edits they detect helpful, in order to larn how to peer review effectively (11). Additionally, information technology is suggested that Graduate students practice reviewing by editing their peers' papers and request a faculty member for feedback on their efforts. Information technology is recommended that young scientists offer to peer review as frequently as possible in order to go skilled at the process (11). The majority of students, fellows and trainees practice not get formal training in peer review, just rather learn by observing their mentors. Co-ordinate to the APS, one acquires experience through networking and referrals, and should therefore endeavour to strengthen relationships with journal editors by offering to review manuscripts (11). The APS also suggests that experienced reviewers provide effective feedback to students and junior colleagues on their peer review efforts, and encourages them to peer review to demonstrate the importance of this process in improving scientific discipline (11).
The peer reviewer should merely comment on areas of the manuscript that they are knowledgeable about (23). If there is whatever section of the manuscript they feel they are not qualified to review, they should mention this in their comments and not provide farther feedback on that section. The peer reviewer is non permitted to share any function of the manuscript with a colleague (even if they may exist more knowledgeable in the subject matter) without kickoff obtaining permission from the editor (23). If a peer reviewer comes beyond something they are unsure of in the paper, they tin consult the literature to try and gain insight. It is important for scientists to recollect that if a paper can be improved by the expertise of ane of their colleagues, the journal must be informed of the colleague's assistance, and approving must be obtained for their colleague to read the protected document. Additionally, the colleague must exist identified in the confidential comments to the editor, in social club to ensure that he/she is appropriately credited for any contributions (23). Information technology is the job of the reviewer to make sure that the colleague profitable is aware of the confidentiality of the peer review process (23). Once the review is consummate, the manuscript must be destroyed and cannot be saved electronically by the reviewers (23).
Common ERRORS IN SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
When performing a peer review, there are some mutual scientific errors to wait out for. Nearly of these errors are violations of logic and mutual sense: these may include contradicting statements, unwarranted conclusions, suggestion of causation when there is merely back up for correlation, inappropriate extrapolation, circular reasoning, or pursuit of a trivial question (24). It is besides common for authors to suggest that ii variables are different because the effects of ane variable are statistically pregnant while the effects of the other variable are not, rather than direct comparing the two variables (24). Authors sometimes oversee a confounding variable and practise non control for it, or forget to include important details on how their experiments were controlled or the physical land of the organisms studied (24). Another common fault is the author's failure to define terms or use words with precision, every bit these practices can mislead readers (24). Jargon and/or misused terms can be a serious problem in papers. Inaccurate statements about specific citations are also a mutual occurrence (24). Additionally, many studies produce noesis that tin be practical to areas of science exterior the scope of the original written report, therefore information technology is better for reviewers to look at the novelty of the idea, conclusions, information, and methodology, rather than scrutinize whether or not the paper answered the specific question at mitt (24). Although it is important to recognize these points, when performing a review it is generally better practice for the peer reviewer to not focus on a checklist of things that could exist incorrect, but rather carefully identify the problems specific to each paper and continuously ask themselves if anything is missing (24). An extremely detailed description of how to acquit peer review finer is presented in the paper How I Review an Original Scientific Article written past Frederic G. Hoppin, Jr. It tin exist accessed through the American Physiological Society website under the Peer Review Resources section.
CRITICISM OF PEER REVIEW
A major criticism of peer review is that there is piffling show that the process actually works, that information technology is actually an effective screen for good quality scientific work, and that it actually improves the quality of scientific literature. As a 2002 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, 'Editorial peer review, although widely used, is largely untested and its effects are uncertain' (25). Critics also fence that peer review is non effective at detecting errors. Highlighting this point, an experiment by Godlee et al. published in the British Medical Periodical (BMJ) inserted viii deliberate errors into a paper that was about ready for publication, and so sent the paper to 420 potential reviewers (vii). Of the 420 reviewers that received the newspaper, 221 (53%) responded, the boilerplate number of errors spotted past reviewers was two, no reviewer spotted more than five errors, and 35 reviewers (16%) did non spot whatever.
Another criticism of peer review is that the process is not conducted thoroughly past scientific conferences with the goal of obtaining large numbers of submitted papers. Such conferences often have any newspaper sent in, regardless of its credibility or the prevalence of errors, because the more than papers they accept, the more coin they can make from writer registration fees (26). This misconduct was exposed in 2014 by three MIT graduate students past the names of Jeremy Stribling, Dan Aguayo and Maxwell Krohn, who developed a simple computer program chosen SCIgen that generates nonsense papers and presents them as scientific papers (26). Subsequently, a nonsense SCIgen newspaper submitted to a briefing was promptly accustomed. Nature recently reported that French researcher Cyril Labbé discovered that sixteen SCIgen nonsense papers had been used past the German academic publisher Springer (26). Over 100 nonsense papers generated by SCIgen were published by the Usa Constitute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) (26). Both organisations take been working to remove the papers. Labbé developed a programme to detect SCIgen papers and has made it freely bachelor to ensure publishers and conference organizers do not accept nonsense work in the futurity. It is available at this link: http://scigendetect.on.imag.fr/primary.php (26).
Additionally, peer review is frequently criticized for being unable to accurately find plagiarism. Even so, many believe that detecting plagiarism cannot practically be included as a component of peer review. Every bit explained past Alice Tuff, development managing director at Sense About Science, 'The vast bulk of authors and reviewers think peer review should detect plagiarism (81%) merely only a minority (38%) think it is capable. The academic time involved in detecting plagiarism through peer review would crusade the organisation to grind to a halt' (27). Publishing firm Elsevier began developing electronic plagiarism tools with the help of journal editors in 2009 to assist ameliorate this upshot (27).
Information technology has as well been argued that peer review has lowered inquiry quality past limiting creativity amid researchers. Proponents of this view claim that peer review has repressed scientists from pursuing innovative research ideas and bold research questions that accept the potential to make major advances and prototype shifts in the field, as they believe that this piece of work will likely be rejected by their peers upon review (28). Indeed, in some cases peer review may consequence in rejection of innovative research, as some studies may not seem particularly strong initially, yet may be capable of yielding very interesting and useful developments when examined nether dissimilar circumstances, or in the light of new information (28). Scientists that do not believe in peer review debate that the procedure stifles the evolution of ingenious ideas, and thus the release of fresh knowledge and new developments into the scientific community.
Some other result that peer review is criticized for, is that at that place are a express number of people that are competent to conduct peer review compared to the vast number of papers that demand reviewing. An enormous number of papers published (1.3 one thousand thousand papers in 23,750 journals in 2006), just the number of competent peer reviewers available could non have reviewed them all (29). Thus, people who lack the required expertise to analyze the quality of a inquiry paper are conducting reviews, and weak papers are beingness accustomed as a result. It is now possible to publish any newspaper in an obscure journal that claims to be peer-reviewed, though the newspaper or periodical itself could be substandard (29). On a similar note, the U.s.a. National Library of Medicine indexes 39 journals that specialize in culling medicine, and though they all identify themselves equally "peer-reviewed", they rarely publish whatsoever high quality research (29). This highlights the fact that peer review of more controversial or specialized work is typically performed by people who are interested and hold similar views or opinions every bit the author, which tin cause bias in their review. For instance, a paper on homeopathy is probable to be reviewed past fellow practicing homeopaths, and thus is likely to be accustomed as credible, though other scientists may detect the paper to be nonsense (29). In some cases, papers are initially published, only their credibility is challenged at a later date and they are subsequently retracted. Retraction Sentinel is a website dedicated to revealing papers that have been retracted afterward publishing, potentially due to improper peer review (30).
Additionally, despite its many positive outcomes, peer review is besides criticized for being a filibuster to the dissemination of new knowledge into the scientific community, and as an unpaid-activity that takes scientists' fourth dimension away from activities that they would otherwise prioritize, such equally research and teaching, for which they are paid (31). Every bit described by Eva Amsen, Outreach Director for F1000Research, peer review was originally adult as a means of helping editors choose which papers to publish when journals had to limit the number of papers they could impress in 1 upshot (32). However, nowadays most journals are bachelor online, either exclusively or in improver to impress, and many journals accept very limited printing runs (32). Since at that place are no longer page limits to journals, any good piece of work can and should be published. Consequently, being selective for the purpose of saving space in a journal is no longer a valid alibi that peer reviewers can use to reject a paper (32). Notwithstanding, some reviewers have used this excuse when they accept personal ulterior motives, such every bit getting their ain research published first.
Contempo INITIATIVES TOWARDS IMPROVING PEER REVIEW
F1000Research was launched in January 2013 by Faculty of 1000 as an open up admission journal that immediately publishes papers (after an initial bank check to ensure that the paper is in fact produced past a scientist and has not been plagiarised), and and then conducts transparent post-publication peer review (32). F1000Research aims to prevent delays in new science reaching the academic community that are caused by prolonged publication times (32). It also aims to make peer reviewing more than off-white by eliminating any anonymity, which prevents reviewers from delaying the completion of a review so they tin can publish their own like work beginning (32). F1000Research offers completely open up peer review, where everything is published, including the name of the reviewers, their review reports, and the editorial decision letters (32).
PeerJ was founded by Jason Hoyt and Peter Binfield in June 2012 as an open admission, peer reviewed scholarly journal for the Biological and Medical Sciences (33). PeerJ selects articles to publish based but on scientific and methodological soundness, not on subjective determinants of 'impact', 'novelty' or 'interest' (34). It works on a "lifetime publishing plan" model which charges scientists for publishing plans that requite them lifetime rights to publish with PeerJ, rather than charging them per publication (34). PeerJ too encourages open up peer review, and authors are given the option to post the full peer review history of their submission with their published article (34). PeerJ likewise offers a pre-print review service chosen PeerJ Pre-prints, in which paper drafts are reviewed before being sent to PeerJ to publish (34).
Rubriq is an independent peer review service designed past Shashi Mudunuri and Keith Collier to improve the peer review system (35). Rubriq is intended to decrease back-up in the peer review process so that the time lost in redundant reviewing tin can be put back into research (35). According to Keith Collier, over 15 1000000 hours are lost each year to redundant peer review, as papers get rejected from 1 journal and are subsequently submitted to a less prestigious journal where they are reviewed again (35). Authors often take to submit their manuscript to multiple journals, and are often rejected multiple times before they find the right match. This procedure could take months or even years (35). Rubriq makes peer review portable in gild to assistance authors choose the journal that is best suited for their manuscript from the beginning, thus reducing the time before their paper is published (35). Rubriq operates under an author-pay model, in which the author pays a fee and their manuscript undergoes double-blind peer review by iii proficient academic reviewers using a standardized scorecard (35). The majority of the author's fee goes towards a reviewer honorarium (35). The papers are also screened for plagiarism using iThenticate (35). Once the manuscript has been reviewed past the iii experts, the most advisable periodical for submission is determined based on the topic and quality of the paper (35). The paper is returned to the author in 1-2 weeks with the Rubriq Written report (35). The author tin can and then submit their paper to the suggested journal with the Rubriq Report fastened. The Rubriq Study volition give the journal editors a much stronger incentive to consider the paper as it shows that iii experts have recommended the paper to them (35). Rubriq also has its benefits for reviewers; the Rubriq scorecard gives structure to the peer review procedure, and thus makes information technology consistent and efficient, which decreases time and stress for the reviewer. Reviewers too receive feedback on their reviews and nigh significantly, they are compensated for their time (35). Journals also benefit, as they receive pre-screened papers, reducing the number of papers sent to their own reviewers, which often end up rejected (35). This tin can reduce reviewer fatigue, and let only higher-quality manufactures to be sent to their peer reviewers (35).
According to Eva Amsen, peer review and scientific publishing are moving in a new direction, in which all papers will be posted online, and a mail service-publication peer review will take place that is independent of specific journal criteria and solely focused on improving paper quality (32). Journals will then choose papers that they find relevant based on the peer reviews and publish those papers as a drove (32). In this process, peer review and private journals are uncoupled (32). In Keith Collier'south opinion, mail service-publication peer review is likely to become more prevalent as a complement to pre-publication peer review, but not as a replacement (35). Mail service-publication peer review volition not serve to identify errors and fraud merely will provide an additional measurement of impact (35). Collier also believes that as journals and publishers consolidate into larger systems, there will exist stronger potential for "cascading" and shared peer review (35).
Final REMARKS
Peer review has become fundamental in assisting editors in selecting apparent, high quality, novel and interesting research papers to publish in scientific journals and to ensure the correction of whatever errors or issues nowadays in submitted papers. Though the peer review process still has some flaws and deficiencies, a more suitable screening method for scientific papers has not yet been proposed or developed. Researchers take begun and must continue to expect for means of addressing the current issues with peer review to ensure that it is a total-proof system that ensures but quality research papers are released into the scientific community.
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Articles from EJIFCC are provided here courtesy of International Federation of Clinical Chemical science and Laboratory Medicine
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4975196/
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