Peer reviews are an important part of the publishing process. After a scientist submits a research paper to a journal, it must be initially approved by an editor, who will make sure that the research aligns with the scope of the journal. After this, the paper must be reviewed by a number of peers. These individuals will be other scientists, generally those that are in the same field.
A benefit to peer reviewing is that other scientists, specifically ones who are familiar with your area of research, can give you feedback on whether or not your research is sound. They can also make sure that your paper is easy to follow and contains all necessary information. Additionally, if there is research that is really similar to yours but that you missed, they might know.
Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to the peer-review process. For one thing, the individual submitting the paper can recommend people to peer-review their paper. Which means, if you have friends in the science world, you can just have them do it. This makes the process somewhat unequal and unethical. And, it means that we can’t know for sure that a paper has been thoroughly peer-reviewed.
