Peer review versus editorial review and their role in innovative science.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Peer review is a widely accepted instrument for raising the quality of science. Peer review limits the enormous unstructured influx of information and the sheer amount of dubious data, which in its absence would plunge science into chaos. In particular, peer review offers the benefit of eliminating papers that suffer from poor craftsmanship or methodological shortcomings, especially in the experimental sciences. However, we believe that peer review is not always appropriate for the evaluation of controversial hypothetical science. We argue that the process of peer review can be prone to bias towards ideas that affirm the prior convictions of reviewers and against innovation and radical new ideas. Innovative hypotheses are thus highly vulnerable to being "filtered out" or made to accord with conventional wisdom by the peer review process. Consequently, having introduced peer review, the Elsevier journal Medical Hypotheses may be unable to continue its tradition as a radical journal allowing discussion of improbable or unconventional ideas. Hence we conclude by asking the publisher to consider re-introducing the system of editorial review to Medical Hypotheses.
منابع مشابه
A Review on the Editorial Peer Review
Background and Objectives: The editorial peer review has an important role in the publication of scientific articles. Peers or reviewers are those scholars who have the expertise regarding the topic of a given article. They critically appraise the articles without having any monetary incentives or conflicts of interest. The aim of this study was to determine the most important aspects of the ed...
متن کاملبررسی سامانههای تحت وب عرضه و داوری مقالات از نظر قابلیتهای نقش نویسنده در نشریات مصوب وزارت بهداشت
Background and Aim: Online submission and peer review systems are formal channels of communication among authors, journal editorial boards, and reviewers. The review process starts after authors submit their manuscripts. The aim of this study is to examine the online article submission and peer review systems in terms of the capability in medical journals of Iranian Ministry of Health, and Medi...
متن کاملA prospective study on an innovative online forum for peer reviewing of surgical science
BACKGROUND Peer review is important to the scientific process. However, the present system has been criticised and accused of bias, lack of transparency, failure to detect significant breakthrough and error. At the British Journal of Surgery (BJS), after surveying authors' and reviewers' opinions on peer review, we piloted an open online forum with the aim of improving the peer review process. ...
متن کاملThe Viewpoints of Alborz University of Medical Sciences’ Faculty Members on Open Peer Review of Journal Articles
Background and Aim: The open peer review process, which is one of the peer-reviewed methods in journals, has been accepted in scientific forums. The aim of this study was to investigate the points of view of university faculty members about the open peer review process of journal articles. Materials and Methods: The study used a descriptive survey. The sample size was calculated using the Coch...
متن کاملThe Peer-Review and Editorial System: Ways to Fix Something That Might Be Broken.
The present article focuses on ways to make the peer-review and editorial process more efficient and more equitable for authors. In particular, we focus on the role of editors and action editors in the process of selecting and managing reviewers, balancing their own impressions of the manuscript with the reviewers' feedback, and rendering a fair and equitable editorial decision. We advance seve...
متن کاملTransparency and accountability
EMBO Molecular Medicine is enriched by a number of innovative policies designed to enhance the editorial process: peer review process files, de-emphasis of confidential referee comments and cross-refereeing.
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Theoretical medicine and bioethics
دوره 33 5 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2012