Describe the process of peer review to someone who does not frequently read scientific articles. In your response, consider the pros and cons of peer review and how that might impact the credibility of the results that come from that scientific article.
The peer review and the scientific writing process consists of multiple steps. First, the author, or authors, develops the manuscript. Next, the authors submit the article to a journal of their selection, determined by connections, subject matter, and the impact factor, or how prestigious the journal is. Next, the manuscript is screened by the journal editor and the editor works with the journal publisher to discuss the direction of the journal and if it “fits” or is rejected. If the article is not rejected, the editor then chooses two to four reviewers who are established, published researchers in the field of work, and sends them the article. The reviewers send their summary of thoughts and responses to the editor. Next, the editor assesses the reviews and decides if the manuscript is rejected, needs to be revised by the authors, or is accepted with no revisions required. The positives of the peer review process are the anonymity of the reviewers to the authors and that the reviewers are experts in the field. The downsides include that there is no anonymity of the author to the reviewers, which could impose bias, as well as the connections that the authors may have with the journal, which can give an unfair advantage for certain research to be published.
