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Peer Review Week

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  • 22-09-2016 12:31pm
    #1
    Kurtosis
    Registered Users Posts: 2,881 ✭✭✭


    If you weren't aware this week is Peer Review Week, you are now!

    Although peer review is one of the cornerstones of science, it is definitely not perfect, with plenty of flaws and being open to abuse. (The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology published a piece describing a case of peer review fraud that had occurred in their journal: "Organised crime against the academic peer review system"). One of the issues that I've seen discussed on Twitter this week is how peer review should be recognised by publishers which I think is a really interesting dilemma. The likes of www.publons.com is a good development that allows peer reviews you've done to be acknowledged for inclusion on a CV or job applications. Some journals also provide a discount on open access publication fees for authors who have reviewed recently which is another nice incentive. Some of the other suggestions have been actual monetary payment or a points system where accumulated points could be used to cover an open access fee. I like the open access incentives but think actual payment may be a step too far and have unintended consequences. It does open a can of worms to an extent in terms of the whole publishing system.

    Does anyone else have any thoughts?


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    #2
    Black Swan
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 47,258 CMod ✭✭✭✭Black Swan


    Grand OP penguin88. Although only anecdotal, I would suspect that one of my peer-reviewed and published articles in a top journal was expedited to print because I had given a presentation at an international conference held in Jamaica where the senior editor was in attendance. He stayed to ask me questions about my methodology after, and then handed me his card, telling me to send it directly to him rather than the normal channels prescribed in his journal. Yes, there was a blind review of 3 scholars with recommendations for improvement, which I resubmitted accordingly, but methinks my manuscript got an extra shove into print. I'll never know for sure, but it made me wonder.


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