Peer Review

Social media has been maligned because of the social comparison it invites. Often people look at others’ posts and feel like they don’t measure up.

However, there is another kind of social comparison that we don’t talk about as much – academic peer review. Generally when a researcher or someone in the academic world wants to publish their data or their theories, they submit a manuscript to a peer reviewed academic journal. The main reason for this is so that contributions are vetted to some degree before they are published. Independent reviewers read the manuscript and weigh in on the accuracy and quality of the content. If it is found “worthy,” the article will be published in that journal. If it is a little less “worthy,” the editors will make some suggestions and invite the author to resubmit. And then, sometimes, it just gets rejected and the author has to try again in some other way.

Sometimes the editors (who do not know the name of the author who submitted the article – for reasons of objectivity) make comments that the author should become more familiar with that topic by reading “so and so.” The amusing part is when the author of the article actually is “so and so.” It’s a rather telling example of how we sometimes judge people, thinking we know more than they do.

What kind of “peer review” process are you a part of? Is it healthy? Can you “keep the meat and spit out the bones?” Is it time to reevaluate it for your own life?