Peer Review in Scientific Publishing

What is it about?

Misunderstandings are rife regarding what exactly peer review is and the purpose it is intended to serve. There are many variations of peer review, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. While peer review continues to evolve alongside the scholarly publishing and academic community it serves, it is clear that the large majority of researchers continue to believe the review system is a linchpin of scientific communication. In this short book, we will provide an overview of the history of peer review, types of peer review, challenges to the system, and possible future developments.

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Why is it important?

The term “peer review” means different things to different people and in different contexts. In its most basic sense, peer review is simply the evaluation of one’s work by one’s peers. What distinguishes peer review in the realm of scholarly communication is that it is a more formal mechanism—­sometimes blinded, sometimes not—­whereby an official decision is made to designate which peers should be asked to assess a body of work. Peer review typically serves two purposes: 1. To function as a gatekeeper, determining which papers should be accepted for publication 2. To ensure that an article realizes its full potential. This also means ensuring that sufficient information is included in the published article to enable both the validation of results and the replication of the study.