Peer review

Question 1

What is peer review

Answer 1

-Peer review is when, before publication, research is assessed by people who are experts in the scientific paper that the research covers (peers)

Question 2

Process of peer review

Answer 2

Stage 1. If the researcher wants their paper to be published, they will submit their paper to an academic journal, this journal then sends the research to people who are experts in the scientific area that the paper covers
Stage 2 - The peer reviewers will consider the quality of the results as well as the methodology used to gather data (e.g is extraneous variables were controlled for)
-The researcher also checks whether the results match the conclusion drawn up by the researcher
Stage 3 - The peer reviewers can either accept the paper and recommend it for publication to the editor or they can reject the paper and maybe recommend improvements to make when reapplying (or if there are too many flaws there is no possibility of re-submission)
Stage 4- The academic journal editor makes the final decision on whether or not the paper is published

Question 3

Uses of peer review in the publication of scientific research (self regulation)

Answer 3

-The knowledge that scientists have that their work might be checked and assessed by fellow experts helps to self-regulate their research; this means that the researcher is more likely to be more careful when planning, conducting the experiment, and justifying conclusions

Question 4

preventing poorly conducted research from being published

Answer 4

-Peer reviews help to prevent poorly conducted research from being communicated to the public as scientific fact
-This also increases the public trust in the scientific process

Question 5

Disadvantages of peer review

Answer 5

-It may be difficult to find suitable peer reviewers for a scientific area that is new or extremely specialised with few experts
-Peers may reject research on a non-scientific basis (e.g professional rivalries)
-Peers may feel unable to challenge work published by leaders in the scientific area as they may assume they are right or fear negative response

Question 6

Strategies to deal with some disadvantages of peer review

Answer 6

-Single-blind peer review: the author is unaware of who the peers are
-Double-blind peer review: the author is unaware of who the peers are and the peers are unaware of who the researcher is