This week’s topic is the process of peer review. Basically, in short, the process of peer review is a way for scientific papers to be thoroughly edited and commented on by fellow scientific researchers before publishing.
The first step for the authors of a potential paper is to submit it to a journal of their choice. A journal is usually a group or site that curates specific types of science. For instance you could have a journal of bacteriology, and they would publish specifically papers related to bacteria. Picking the right journal is an important step, and what journal you choose depends on multiple factors, including where you want the paper to be shown, as well as what connections you have to those operating said journal. The next step is for the Journal editor to screen the paper. The editor will read over the paper, and decide if it is something that the journal would like to publish. If they approve, it moves on to the next review step, if not, it gets rejected. The next step is where a panel of editors work together, and make many revisions of the paper. These revisions are sent back to the authors, who make the changes and then submit the paper again for more editing. This cycle continues until the editors feel the revisions are good enough, and then the paper can finally go on to get published in the journal.
There are many pros to peer review. It allows for a fresh set of eyes to observe the research being done, and it is helpful to get advice and comments on the research. This helps insure that the research being done is as thorough and accurate as possible, while being readable. Papers are the way in which scientists spread information, so it is important to make sure information is correct, and peer review is very helpful with this. However, there are some cons to it. One of the large ones is that the review process is largely based on the author’s connections. If the author knows people at the Journal that is reviewing the paper, it can have a large influence into whether or not the paper is even accepted to be published. This is an important note to recognize, because certain journals stand above others in credibility. Getting into a high level journal means much more credit to the authors than a lower level journal. This may also mean that the results published in a higher caliber journal are taken more seriously than a lower level one.
Its important to understand the biases that arise during peer review, and that is one of the reasons why we are being introduced to it in this class. By being exposed to the process, and understanding the pros and cons, it allows us to go into the field of hard science knowing already how the process works. This will be extremely beneficial, because by knowing how the editing is done and what reviewers are looking for, it makes it potentially easier for us as future researchers to get our studies published.
