Peer review

Question 1

Peer review

Answer 1

Before publication, all aspects of the investigation are scrutinised by experts (peers) in the field.
The experts should be objective and unknown to the researcher.

Question 2

What are the three aims of peer review?

Answer 2

1) Funding: allocate research funding
2) Validation of the quality and relevance of research
3) Improvements and amendments are suggested.

Question 3

What is one strength of peer review?

Answer 3

Protects quality of published research.
Minimises possibility of fraudulent research and means published research is of the highest quality.

Question 4

What is one limitation of peer review?

Answer 4

Anonymity may be used to criticise rival research.
A minority of reviewers may use their anonymous status to criticise rival researchers.
Often there is competition for limited research funding so this may be an issue.

Question 5

What is a second limitation of peer review?

Answer 5

Publication bias.
Tendency for editors of journals to want to publish headline grabbing findings.
Means that research that does not meet this criterion is ignored (file drawer problem).

Question 6

What is a third limitation of peer review?

Answer 6

Ground-breaking research may be buried.
Reviewers may be much more critical of research that contradicts their own view.
Peer review may slow down the rate of change within scientific disciplines.