Lesson 10- Validating new knowledge & the role of peer review

Question 1

What is meant by validating new knowledge?

Answer 1

Validating new knowledge- proposal of research study sent to experts- ensure research fulfils aims

• Research councils & funding agencies only support robust, well designed research
• Publish research in scientific 🧪 journals- only way researchers have access to work- read & challenge it
• Getting research published ✖️ easy- peer review used- check quality/standard of work

Question 2

What is peer review & what does the process entail?

Answer 2

Peer review- psychologist send their work to other psychologist(s) (other experts)- work scrutinised & considered for publishing

• MUST be ⬆️ quality, validity, significant & original- then published
• Double blind peer review- psychologist who wrote research ✖️ know who will peer review work & peer reviewer ✖️ know whose research they’re analysing
• If research ✖️ meet ⬆️ standards then ✖️ published & sent back to psychologist for corrections

Question 3

What are academic journals?

Answer 3

Academic Journals- very expensive to buy- general public/less 💰 universities might ✖️ have access to journals or published research … ✖️ always published in print BUT process called “Open access.”

Question 4

What is open access online peer reviews & what is a potential negative ➖ of it?

Answer 4

Open Access- Online peer reviews- new knowledge viewed by scientific community & general public- everyone can access & judge it- often rated by academics
- BUT problem- non-experts/non-psychologists may wrongly review research

Question 5

State 5 reasons why publishing work is important

Answer 5

1) Work appears in international journals & is shared across 🌎
2) Work discussed/debated-> idea 💡 build- develop new research- help establish new theories/💡
3) Scientific 🧪 community has confidence that work of good quality due to use of peer review
4) ⬆️ reputation of researcher (self esteem)- offer chance to gain funding for research in future
5) The institutions e.g. universities look good if many psychologists conducted published research-> universities receive government grants for research-> university gains ⬆️ 💵

Question 6

What are the 3 purposes of peer review?

Answer 6

1) Allocation of research funding 💵
2) Publication of research in academic journals
3) Assessing the research rating of university departments

Question 7

Why is peer review important in terms of allocation of research funding?

Answer 7

Allocation of research funding 💵 - Research paid for by government & charitable bodies- MUST spend 💵 responsibly- Medical 🏥 Research Council require peer reviews- helps decide if research worthwhile

Question 8

Why is peer review important in terms of publication of research in academic journals?

Answer 8

Publication of research in academic journals- 🧪 journals give scientists 👩‍🔬 opportunity to share research with other 👨‍🔬- prevents publication of irrelevant findings, fraud etc … improves quality of research published- ⬆️ probability of weaknesses/errors being identified

Question 9

Why is peer review important in assessing the research rating of university departments?

Answer 9

Assessing the research rating of university departments- research conducted by university 🧪 departments given rating- reflects standard of research

Question 10

What are the evaluation points of peer review?

Answer 10

👎- difficult to find expert to assess research with enough knowledge on research topic
👍- double blind technique means peers neutral & non-bias
👎- publication bias by expert assessing research- because of topic, university etc- subjective
👍- promotes & maintains ⬆️ standards of research … ⬆️ quality research with ✅ methodology