Peer Review Flashcards
What is peer review
When publishing in a journal an authors paper is assessed by people who are experts in the same scientific area as the author
1. Submit paper to academic journal and then this is sent to independent experts
2. Peers consider the quality of the paper including research design and methods used. Extraneous variables will be checked as well as deciding if the results actually support the conclusions drawn by the author.
3. Peers decide if they can recommend this paper for publication
4. Journal editor makes final decision on if the paper will be published
What are the advantages
- if work is checked and assessed by fellow experts, scientists will most likely self regulate their work. Scientists will be more honest and careful in their planning on how the study is conducted
-helps journalists and the public to decide if the claims should be trusted or not. - the quality and amount of published peer reviewed work can help assess quality of different academic institutions
Helps government to know who to fund.
What are the disadvantages and how can they be fixed
- journals may struggle to find peers which have enough knowledge or in new scientific areas
-peers may reject papers due to rivalry of who publishes first - may worry about negative response
Single and double blinding can help
-however blinding may cause them to be harsh
-bias in publishing positive findings and hiding negative ones
