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What is the purpose of peer review?

What is the purpose of peer review?
04 Oct

First, it serves as a filter, checking the work for validity, importance, and originality before submitting it for publication, particularly in prestigious publications. The second reason for peer review is to improve the quality of accepted submissions for publication. Peer reviewers provide an invaluable service by vetting manuscripts for errors, spotting areas where the study may need further attention, and suggesting ways in which the work could be strengthened before it is accepted for publication.

The term "peer review" refers to the practice of having one's academic work, research, or ideas evaluated by other professionals in the same area. It controls the distribution of research data to prevent the publication of unjustified claims, undesirable interpretations, or personal opinions and encourages writers to fulfill the established high standards of their profession. Peer review is used by the vast majority of journals, however it has been heavily criticized for being too time-consuming and prone to prejudice on the part of editors and reviewers. 
                                                       The practice of peer review has grown in importance within the scientific community. This ensures that scientific journal articles really address relevant research problems and derive reliable results from well-conducted experiments. There has been a rise in the submission of poor quality articles, and peer review serves as a filter to keep this kind of work from reaching the scientific community. The primary benefit of peer review is the credibility it lends to scientific communication in the form of peer-reviewed papers. This confidence is especially vital given the accumulative and self-reinforcing nature of scientific knowledge. Despite its many benefits, peer review has its detractors who say it prevents creative risk-taking and is a weak plagiarism filter at best.

 

Definition of Peer Review: 

"The process by which a scholar's work, research, or ideas are evaluated by other scholars who are recognized experts in the same field" (1). There are two main goals that peer review is supposed to achieve. First, it serves as a filter, checking the work for validity, importance, and originality before submitting it for publication, particularly in prestigious publications. The second reason for peer review is to improve the quality of accepted submissions for publication. Reviewers in the same field as the manuscript's authors provide constructive criticism and recommendations for improving the work before it is published.
 

RELATIONSHIP REVIEW BY PEERS:


The academic journal did not originate the peer review notion. In truth, the practice of using peer review as a means of assessing written work dates back at least as far as ancient Greece. Ishaq bin Ali al-Rahwi, a Syrian physician who lived between 854 and 931 CE and wrote Ethics of the Physician, is credited with being the first to explain the peer review process. There, he explained that doctors need to document each patient's current health situation in detail. After the patient was treated, the medical records were reviewed by the local medical board to ensure the doctor had followed all applicable guidelines. If the medical board determines that the necessary requirements were not satisfied, the patient who was mistreated may file a lawsuit against the doctor. 
In 1453, with the advent of the printing press, it became possible to mass-produce and disseminate printed materials. Editing by peers become increasingly common at this period as a means to control the quality of writing that entered the public domain. Francis Bacon published Novum Organum in 1620; in it, he laid forth the first general approach to creating and evaluating new scientific knowledge. The Scientific Method owes a great deal to his contributions.