Peer review, generally speaking, refers to a part of the editing and revising process wherein people within the same field read an article that you’ve written, and critique it. In a scientific article, peer review means that the article is reviewed by scientists in the same field for accuracy and feasibility.
This peer review is important for ensuring that scientific journals aren’t filled with articles that aren’t scientific in nature, articles that fake or falsify their results, and articles that draw incorrect conclusions from their data. While some accidents certainly slip through the cracks, this process has been used over the years because of how effective it is at catching bad articles.
There are some drawbacks to peer review, however. The most glaring issue is that cutting edge research that fundamentally changes the way that we view a field of science may be passed on or overlooked because nobody in the peer review committee has seen anything like it, or they may assume that the data, the methods, or the conclusions drawn are bogus. If these revolutionary articles are thrown out in the peer review process, it can hold back progress in the field significantly.
