Research Methods: peer review Flashcards
What is one of the ways that research is communicated to other psychologists?
publication in research journals
Explain the peer reviewing process.
the researcher will submit their article on their research to the editor of a journal.
the editor of the journal will send the article for review to 2/3 psychologists who have published their own research in a similar area to that of the article submitted for publication.
each reviewer writes an independent report with recommendations for improvement, stating whether or not it should be published. These reports usually include; adequacy of literature review, justification of research hypothesis to be tested and whether the conclusions are justified by the findings.
if the article is recommended for publishing by the reviewers then it is accepted-usually with a requirement that certain amendments are made. If not recommended then it is rejected.
What are the strengths of peer review?
helps validate research
acts as a quality control mechanism so only the highest quality scientific research gets published.
What are the disadvantages of peer review?
reviewers can use anonymity to criticize rival researchers
it is biased as reviewers may not agree with the results so influence their view on the quality of the research and thus their recommendations.
reviewers favor reports that support rather than reject the hypothesis. Therefore, research that supports the null hypothesis is unlikely to get published. This leads to misunderstandings.
