peer review

• peer review is the assessment of scientific work by others who are specialists in the same field to ensure any research for publication is of high quality
• peer review is the assessment of scientific work by others who are specialists in the same field to ensure any research for publication is of high quality
• role of peer review:

  communicating research knowledge such as findings effectively to the wider community and public. normally done through academic journals but also can be done through conferences and textbooks
• aims of peer review:

  • allocation of research findings: independent peer evaluation takes place to decide if research project will be awarded funding. funding can be organised via government and other organisation
  • validate quality and relevance: all elements research are assessed for quality and accuracy
  • suggest ammendments/ improvements: reviewers may suggest minor revisions to improve the report. extreme circumstances may conclude work inappropriate for publication and should be withdrawn
• usual practice that the peer reviewing process is anonymous and increase honesty. but minority may use to criticise rival research which is made more likely due to direct competition for limited funding. for this reason, some journals favour a system of open reviewing where the reviewers are the public
• its the natural tendency for publishers of journals want to publish significant headlines to increase credibility and circulation of their publication. they also prefer to publish +ve results. could mean that research which doesnt meet this criteria is ignored creating file drawer phenomena. creating false impression of current state of psychology if editors are being selective of what is published
• peer review process may suppress the opposition to mainstream theories, wishing to maintain the status quo with particular scientific fields. reviewers tend to be critical of research that contradicts their own view and much more favourable of whose matches it. established scientists more likely to be reviewers especially by prestigious journals. as a result findings that chime with current opinions likely to be passed. peer review slow down rate of change in scientific discipline