Reviewer Responsibilities- UW - Madison 1

Importance of Peer Review History 18th century 20th century Continued controversies Recent personal experiences illustrating value of thorough, objective peer review As a manuscript author As a peer reviewer The peer review process determines the public record of science!

Why Should You Be A Peer Reviewer? Responsibility to your profession / field of science Add up to date findings / ideas to your own knowledge base From the manuscript From other reviewers A valuable, unique teaching tool for your trainees

Expectations of a Reviewer That you are an expert on 1 or more topics of the manuscript …ability to judge whether findings offer a “significant advance” That you truly have no conflict of interest – legal or otherwise Punctual! …be sure you do have the time to do a good job NOW! Be worthy of the TRUST that authors and editors have placed in you, the reviewer!

Should the journal Impact Factor (IF) have any bearing on your review? …journal IF likely has little bearing on the quality of the manuscript you will review!

What should you do if you suspect scientific misconduct? Duplicate publication Plagiarism Unacknowledged use of data from a previous publication Figure manipulation Fraudulent data

Negative findings. Are they of value. …worth publishing Negative findings? Are they of value? …worth publishing? …held to a higher standard?

Should you accept an invitation to review a manuscript which you already reviewed for another journal? …what do you have to offer? - Inform the editor

Reviewer Responsibilities / Conduct Move the field forward Encourage important, thorough science Improve the clarity of the message Language Speculation, length RESULTS presentation is key! List strengths / weaknesses …has the author disclosed the study’s limitations? Courtesies, fairness, objectivity …suppress your own competitive instincts / ego!

Bias?! Try very hard NOT to allow the “status” / reputation of the authors influence your judgment …one way or the other!

Requiring extra experiments Requiring extra experiments! …be absolutely sure that this requirement is consistent with the author’s aims! …not YOUR aims!

Golden Rule of Reviewing Treat the manuscript as you would want your own to be treated! Appreciate knowing that your peer review offerings are essential to the quality / integrity of science!