An overview of the peer review process in biomedical sciences.
Edward Miller, Michael James Weightman, Ashna Basu, Andrew Amos, Vlasios Brakoulias
Author Information
Edward Miller: Division of Psychological Medicine, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. ORCID
Michael James Weightman: School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia; College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, Australia. ORCID
Ashna Basu: Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW Australia; Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Committee for Research, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. ORCID
Andrew Amos: School of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia. ORCID
Vlasios Brakoulias: School of Medicine and Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Specialty of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The Univesity of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. ORCID
OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to provide an introductory resource for beginner peer reviewers in psychiatry and the broader biomedical science field. It will provide a concise overview of the peer review process, alongside some reviewing tips and tricks. CONCLUSION: The peer review process is a fundamental aspect of biomedical science publishing. The model of peer review offered varies between journals and usually relies on a pool of volunteers with differing levels of expertise and scope. The aim of peer review is to collaboratively leverage reviewers' collective knowledge with the objective of increasing the quality and merit of published works. The limitations, methodology and need for transparency in the peer review process are often poorly understood. Although imperfect, the peer review process provides some degree of scientific rigour by emphasising the need for an ethical, comprehensive and systematic approach to reviewing articles. Contributions from junior reviewers can add significant value to manuscripts.
