Understanding the Peer Review Process

Excerpt

Peer review of scientific literature is a time-honoured process with a long history. To paraphrase Relman, “It is hard to imagine how we, (sic. journal editors) could get along without it.”1,2 However, despite the widespread espousal of the need for an evidence base for scientific research and publication, paradoxically, the process for determination of the value, integrity and originality of the results of that same scientific research, i.e., peer review, lacks a credible evidence base and is controversial to say the least.3,4 The International Congresses on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication has helped to remedy this situation, and much of the recent literature concerning peer review relates to the proceedings of these congresses. …