Peer review
Four principles underscore a robust peer review process (Hooper, M, et.al (2018). Journal Peer Review):
- Fairness – peer review should provide a fair, clear, constructive, objective and accurate assessment
- Competence – Peer review should be performed by academics who are sufficiently competent in the field to make an informed assessment
- Transparency – Authors and reviewers should be transparent about any perceived or actual conflicts of interests
- Confidentiality – Reviewers should maintain confidentiality about the content of the work, and not use information obtained by peer review for personal advantage
Details of the peer review process should be available on a journal webpage for consultation prior to submission.
Beware Predatory Publishers – Predatory publishers skip peer review or only provide rudimentary checks. It is important to check if a publisher’s peer review policy is available and well-explained before you submit your work. Although it is easier to get articles published through predatory publishing it is risky as authors may suffer irreparable reputation damage.