Peer-Review

Process

Peer review is one step in the process of articles assessment before publication. It starts with manuscript submission. The process or peer  reviewing includes communication between the authors and reviewers. Reviewers provide feedback and authors should respond to these comments. Once articles are corrected to meet all the requirements, the editors accept the articles for publishing in the journal.

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(Image source: Scrutinizing science: Peer review)

Peer review in practice

Step 1

A researcher (or research group) submits an article to the editor of an academic journal that is most relevant to the subject of the article. The editor gives the article a cursory reading and determines whether the article is of the required quality, contains new insights and is well written.

Step 2

If the editor decides to proceed with the article, two or more peer reviewers must be sought. The reviewers may be the authors of articles previously published in the journal, or other researchers who have an established reputation in a particular research field. The editor will always look for reviewers who are fellow researchers and experts in the subject of the article, but he/she will also aim for diversity. This diversity aspect can be problematic; in a relatively small discipline few fellow researchers will have the required specialist knowledge. 

Step 3

The editor will eventually receive two or more reviews, which are then sent anonymously to the author(s) of the article. On the basis of the reviews, the editor decides whether to reject the article, ask the author(s) to make major or minor revisions, or to accept it without further action. In most cases, authors are required to rewrite part of the article.

Step 4

The revised version is resubmitted by the author(s), along with a response to the reviewers’ comments. The editor will then reassess the comments, the response of the author(s) and the revised article. The article may still be accepted, but more often than not it is sent back to the reviewers for further comments. This means that an article may be revised several times before it is ultimately accepted or rejected.

Types of peer review

Different journals and publishers use different types of peer review. This should be described in the About of the journal page to inform authors about the system of reviewing manuscripts. The commonly used types include (BioMed Central):

• Single-blind: the reviewers know the names of the authors, but the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript.
• Double-blind: the reviewers do not know the names of the authors, and the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript.
• Open peer: authors know who the reviewers are, and the reviewers know who the authors are. If the manuscript is accepted, the named reviewer reports are published alongside the article and the authors’ response to the reviewer.
• Transparent peer: the reviewers know the names of the authors, but the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript. If the manuscript is accepted, the anonymous reviewer reports are published alongside the article and the authors’ response to the reviewer.