11 - Peer Review Flashcards
Define peer review
The assessment of a researchers scientific work by experts in the same field.
What is the purpose of peer review?
Ensure that any research that is conducted and published is of a high standard.
What are 3 main functions peer review should serve?
Allocation of research funding
Publication of research in academic journals
Assessing the research eating of university departments
Explain allocation of research funding
Research is paid for by various governments and charitable bodies.
The organisations spending this money have a duty to spend it responsibly.
Peer review should help decide wether the research is worthwhile.
Explain publication of research in academic journals
Peer review prevents :
- irrelevant findings
- unwarranted claims
- unacceptable intentions
- personal views
- deliberate fraud
It improves the quality of research published and ensures it is taken seriously as it has been independently scrutinised.
It increases probability of weaknesses/ errors being identified as researchers are less objective about their own work.
Explain assessing the research rating of university departments
University science departments are expected to conduct research and its quality is assessed so the department can be given a rating to reflect the standard of research.
What are the advantages of peer review?
Important - provides a way of checking the validity and credibility and assessing the quality abs appropriateness of the design and methodology.
Double blind procedure - researcher is anonymous, and they don’t know who is peer reviewing their work
Involves a specialist in the field who will have exceptional knowledge and expertise so they’ll make the best judgement.
What are the disadvantages of peer review?
Not always possible to find an appropriate expert to review. This means poor research might be positively reviewed because the researcher didn’t understand it.
Journals tend to prefer positive results because editors want to increase the standing of their journal. This results in bias in published research which leads to a misperception of the facts.
Can be an unfair process - some specialists have connections with certain unis/institutions, and therefore favouritism or bias might occur due to the institution the writer originates from.
