Improvements on the Scientific Review Process? 25
"Another really frustrating point is many people feel that some papers are accepted on the basis of the reputation of the senior author and not purely on scientific merit (i.e., the burden of proof is lessened for established scientists), while the opposite is true for younger investigators (i.e., the burden of proof for novel findings may be higher, sometimes unreasonably so). One's scientific pedigree also helps, to a certain extent (if you trained with a big name, you are more likely to get published).
In the examples above, 2-way communication via anonymous email between the authors and reviewers might solve this particular problem; also, I think that if the identities of the reviewers are protected, why not the authors? Perhaps a solution to my second issue would be to have the author's names hidden from the reviewers until after the review process is complete."
Communicate effectively. (Score:4, Insightful)
Well actually two things are important. The main material, and the other is your ability to communicate to others what's important. What good is the greatest idea ever discovered if people can't understand you?
The other is true, and a bit regretable, if not at least understandable.
Re:Communicate effectively. (Score:2)
Re:Communicate effectively. (Score:2)
In the words of my advisor, "Each paper should be a stand-alone work." The purpose of introduction and related work sections is to present these technical issues. The reader should know (a) why your work is important, (b) what has already been done, and (c) why your work is a
Two things (Score:3, Interesting)
First impression is that this could be a good application of the "open" community / wiki style of document management and review. The problem being that you would have to prevent the good informaton from being "polluted" by bias sources while still being able to filter out the bunk science.
Second, as someone mentioned [slashdot.org] in the previous story, maybe it would be a good idea to cast off the anonymous review anyway!
=Smidge=
Clarity of exposition (Score:5, Insightful)
When the reviewers encounter something that might be confusing to them in the manuscript, they take it as a negative, when really a very simple explanation from the authors would clear it up. After all, its the scientific content, not 1337 wr171ng skillz that is being reviewed.
I'm not so sure you can separate the two so easily. First, consider the fact that if the reviewer cannot understand what you are saying by reading your paper, many other people who will read your paper once it's been published won't understand it either. I can just see it: the reviewer asks the author a question using this email system you describe. The author explains their intent and the reviewer understands and accepts the paper. The confusing wording in the paper is never cleared up. Expecting all those people who have to read the thing once it's published to make heads or tails out of something worded poorly is just not fair. And don't give me the "once the author sees the reviewer's confusion, s/he will take it upon themselves to fix up the wording" bit. That would be really nice but don't count on it.
Second, you seem to make the distinction between having great scientific thoughts and the ability to communicate them effectively. Brilliant physists like Richard Feynman were able to explain very complicated concepts to a wide audience. If you really, truly understand something you should be able to make it understandable to others. If you cannot describe something without falling back on a lot of jargon, then perhaps you don't really have that deep an understanding after all.
Third, writing really isn't that difficult. Let's face it: a lot of science-types look down on those who majored in literature and humanities stuff in college. The feeling among scientists is that all the writing stuff is easy compared to the hardcore technical stuff that they do. If that's so, then prove it. It really shouldn't be too difficult for them to produce something reasonably easy to read. No one is going to kill you if you don't get all the rules for comma usage correct. But you should really have the ability to communicate your thoughts clearly to others in your field.
GMD
Re:Clarity of exposition (Score:3, Insightful)
Good post, I agree with everything you say apart from one nitpick.
writing really isn't that difficult. Let's face it: a lot of science-types look down on those who majored in literature and humanities stuff in college. The feeling among scientists is that all the writing stuff is easy compared to the hardcore technical stuff that they do.
Speaking as someone who can write technical papers very well, but who can't write prose, other than poetry for love nor money I have to take issue with the typical 'sc
Re:Clarity of exposition (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Clarity of exposition (Score:4, Insightful)
Most papers are pretty well written, bearing in mind that we're not talking about gripping prose, here... it's technical writing of the style of "this is the objective, this is what I did, this is how I did it, this is what happened, this is what it means". Basic technical writing is an essential skill that the scientist has to have. If you just simply cannot string the words together properly, find a collaborator to clean up your text, and give acknowledgements as appropriate. Usually, I would give a "Reject" or "Revise extensively and re-submit" if there's a problem with the experimental design or statitistics used. Overreaching or unwarranted conclusions would also be a red flag.
By the way, I have no patience with lazy or incompetent authors who submit crappy work and assume that the editor will polish it all up. Dot your own "i"s, cross your own "t"s, and you will fare much better in your reviews.
3-way email is nearly 2 way (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, since eBay, half.com, etc all have "send question to seller" that maintains anonymity but allows direct communication, I'd think a peer-review journal site could easily manage that.
Already, things like ApJ prefer/almost require electronic submission, and have a page for authors to check on their progress. It'd be easy to implement.
Finally, on anonymity-- the best reviewer comments I've received were from reviewers who declined to be anonymous. They were comfortable enough to communicate directly, and the work was better for it. So perhaps the very requirement of anonymity could be reconsidered.
So, in short:
1) Use electronic marketplace ideas to streamline and improve the review process,
2) All anonymity to (like on slashdot) be optional.
publishing (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, the process could be faster, don't we all know. It can be upwards of 6 months to years to get an article published, depending on the journal and diligence of reviewers. But who has time to review? It's an unpaid, thankless job!
Electronic journals, open, double blind review processes. Open archive (arxiv.org) for everything. That is the way this should go.
-- Bob
Not much to be done (Score:4, Interesting)
to be strengthened. Currently, you can guess who
your reviewer is by the style of response, what
issues the person raises etc. This allows the
submitter to taylor response to the reviewer, i.e.
it becomes a game of salesmanship. This is hard to
fix but the point I am making is that it should
go the other way: less personal more objective.
2. Scientific logic is that it is better to not
publish than publish something uncertain. So the
assinine reviewers are the price you pay for a
working peer review system. Ain't nuthin you can
do about it, much like getting off on a technicality
is a feature of our justice system.
3. There are so many journals that the issue of
stupid or stubborn reviewers should not deter a
good paper from being published, you just have to
try a few times. It is also possible to publish
your work in conference proceedings where the
review is a lot more lax. In short, insofar as we
ignore the career-building aspect of publishing
in a prestigeous journal, a good paper can be made
public in so many ways as to be almost
irrepressible.
4. If your goal is career-building, then you have
to deal with gatekeepers, no matter what the
system. I suspect the current system is not too
bad.
Ummm (Score:2, Insightful)
Anonymity for the author is impractical. (Score:2)
Well... (Score:4, Insightful)
If it really bothers you that much, have colleagues not involved in the project review papers before submission and do the same for them.
2-way communication (Score:3, Informative)
Actually all the journals I know of in computer science allow two-way communication anonymized via the editor.
Improvements on the slashdot review process? (Score:3, Funny)
I post to slashdot and recently have run into a slew of frustrations trying to get my posts modded up. For instance, one really frustrating thing is, moderators slap me with a -1 when they encounter something that might be confusing to them in the post. They take it as a negative, when really a very simple follow up post from the author would clear it up. After all, its the revevance of the content, not 1337 3ngr15h skillz that is being moderated.
What are some of the frustrations you have come across when posting to slashdot, and have you any ideas on how to improve on the moderation process?
Another really frustrating point is many people feel that some posts get an automatic +2 on the basis excellent karma, not purely on the merit of the post itself (i.e., the burden of originality is lessened for established slashdotters), while the opposite is true for posters with bad karma or a high account number (i.e., the burden of proof for creative posts may be higher, sometimes unreasonably so).
One's list of friends and fans also helps, to a certain extent (if you are a friend of a slashdot Rock Star, you are more likely to get modded up).
In the examples above, a follow-up anonymous coward post by the reviewer might solve this particular problem (lest the reviewer lose the ability to moderate by posting with his regular account); also, I think that if the identities of the moderators are protected, why not the authors? Perhaps a solution to my second issue would be to have the author's names hidden from anyone with mod points (as in metamoderation).
-jim
Faster process (Score:2)
Re:Faster process (Score:2)
That's a raw deal. The way I see it, if you submitted your article before the other persons' article appeared in the literature, then it should have been given full consideration.
They should have a 1-week time-limit for referees.
I can see your point, but a week isn't realistic. Most (if not all) scientific journals use volunteer referees, and most of these guys are profs with busy schedules, and you can't expect them to drop everything and give the pa
Scientific validation of peer review (Score:2)
We don't have a better alternative to peer review, but it's well known that you can send the same paper or grant proposal to several different groups of qualified peer reviewers and get completely different reviews.
This is gnarly enough for publication, but if public policy depends on it (e.g., peer review of the scientific basis of environmental regul
The sheer volume proves that the process works (Score:2)
Science has a greater-than 80% rejection rate, because there are only so many pages in the magazine. Many people are frustrated that they've been rejected five and six times (they have about 20 years of author subm