peer review

• What is peer review?

  When a piece of research has been carried out it will written up as a paper, this is a particular format and sets out how an experiment was: conducted, the results, and consideration of what the results might mean.
• Peer review: scientific information.

  1. Scientific research is increasingly being made public.
  2. Organisations also promote or discuss scientific research.
  3. Over 1M papers are published each year, it is important we know how they are assessed so we do not accept poor scientific research.
• What is the peer review process?

  An expert, in the same field, will be selected who works for the journal the paper has been submitted to. They will read the unpublished paper, looking for any mistakes.
• What are the three things the reviewer could say?

  They could say that it can be published, that it needs a review before publication or that it will be rejected. Usually there are small changes that need to be made.
• What option could feedback be sent with?

  1. Accept the work.
  2. Accept it on condition of certain changes.
  3. Reject the work but suggest changes for resubmission.
  4. Reject the work.
• What is a single blind review?

  The authors do not know who the reviewers are.
• What is double blind review?

  The identity of both the author and the reviewer are kept hidden.
• What is open review?

  Allowing self-reflected reviewers to comment on an article, rather than having reviewers who are selected.
• What is an advantage of peer review?

  The reviewer is often anonymous. This is a strength as it prodcues a more honest review.
• What is a weakness of peer review?

  Reviewers often remain anonymous. This is a weakness as they may do it to over criticise.
• What is a weakness of peer review?

  Some research may be a new area not yet researched. This is a weakness as it may not be possible to find experts in certain fields like this.