It’s Peer Review Week and Himmelfarb Library is celebrating this year’s theme “Quality in Peer Review.” Peer review is vital to ensuring publication quality and there are a number of things you can do to help celebrate this foundational aspect of the scholarly communications process:
- Sign up for a Publons profile. Publons is a free service that allows you to track and highlight your peer review contributions to academic journals. Publons allows you to document your peer review contributions and can be used to highlight your scholarly impact.
- Help to develop and update reporting guidelines. The CONSORT Statement which helps to minimize problems associated from inadequate reporting of randomized control trials was introduced in 1996 and other reporting guidelines such as STROBE, PRISMA, STARD, and TRIPOD also help to ensure that publications are complete. Helping to update guidelines can be a valuable way to ensure their continued credibility. For information on helping to develop reporting guidelines, see the EQUATOR network toolkit.
- Join the Publons Academy. The Publons Academy offers free online peer review training that allows you to build your skills as a reviewer and connect with editors in your field. Complete the program and receive a certificate highlighting your skills as a qualified per reviewer.
- Review peer review guidelines. Whether you are a seasoned reviewer or new to the peer review process, there are a number of resources that can help you build your skills. Wiley’s guide for journal reviewers provides information ranging from how to perform a peer review to guidelines for ensuring that you receive recognition for your work.
Have questions or need more information about peer review? Contact Sara Hoover, Metadata and Scholarly Publishing Librarian at the Himmelfarb Library at shoover@gwu.edu.
