Peer Review Flashcards
What does peer review involve?
A piece of psychological research is scrutinised by small group of peers in the particular field
Steps for peer review
- Psychologists write a report
- Send to journal editor, who sends out for peer review
- Peers in the same field review article and send back to editor with feedback
- Editor may send feedback to psychologists, who may revise and re-submit with improvements
- If article finally meet editorial and peer standards it’s published in a journal
Purpose of peer review?
To find out where research funding should be allocated:
-Government organisations require reviews so they can identify which research is likely to be worthwhile to spend on.
Assessing research of university departments:
-All science departments are expected to conduct research so a review allows the research to be assessed in terms of quality.
Prevents incorrect information from entering the public domain:
-Peers can prevent incorrect info from being published into journals
Advantages of peer review
-Upholds principles of science by preventing scientific fraud
-Adds credibility to field of study by publishing valid research
-Peers can allocate funding to certain areas of research, so further important research can take place
Weaknesses of peer review
-May be hard to find an expert to review, which means the reviewer may end up missing important issues
-Peers can bring bias into research e.g. being highly critical of research that goes against their own belifs
