Peer Review Week 2021: Types of Peer Review

Peer Review Week 2021 is September 20 – 24, 2021.  It is recognized by publishers, organizations, and institutions to promote awareness of this important part of academic publishing and scholarly communication. 

Scholarly publishers frequently use the peer review process when deciding on which manuscripts to include in their publications.  Not all publishers, however, use the same type of peer review.  The following 3 types are most frequent in scholarly publishing:

1. Single Blind Peer Review:  an author does not know the identity of the reviewers of their manuscript.  This is most often used in STEM publications.
2. Double Blind Peer Review:  the author of a manuscript and its reviewers do not know each other’s identities.
3. Open Peer Review:  the identities of the author and reviewers are known to each other and throughout the peer review process.

Other Types of Peer Review.  Some scholars and reviewers wanted more communication about a manuscript throughout the peer review process, or preferred to continue these conversations after its publication.  Other types of peer review came about because of its criticisms; a lack of transparency was one, so some types of peer review provide the identities of scholars and reviewers: 

4. Transparent Peer Review:  a published article is accompanied by a review report where the reviewers can choose to share their identities.
5. Collaborative:  one instance is when 2 or more reviewers work together on a review of a work, where another type is where an author actively works with 1 or more reviewers on manuscript editing.
6. Post Publication:  a published article includes a comments section or discussion forum where additional review can take place.

Newer Models of Peer Review.  Existing peer review models may see changes while newer ones will emerge.  Peer review has also come under additional scrutiny with the increased attention to social justice and inclusion in scholarly publishing and communication.  As a result, new forms of peer review may respond to these conversations. 

Researchers are also exploring ways to use current and emerging technology to discuss and improve their work, so collaborative or real-time forms of peer review may be established.  Peer review, with its key function of being a gold standard in publishing, will most likely follow broader changes within scholarly and academic communication.

More Information:

• Types of Peer Review (Wiley):  https://authorservices.wiley.com/Reviewers/journal-reviewers/what-is-peer-review/types-of-peer-review.html
• Peer Review Week 2021:  https://peerreviewweek.wordpress.com/

Image Source:  Review by Markus Winkler, https://unsplash.com/photos/-fRAIQHKcc0.  Permission for limited commercial and educational purposes, with attribution not required.