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Diverse Conversations: Understanding the Peer-Review Process

071414_Steve_GoldenbergUp there with the tenure system, the peer-review process is perhaps one of the most baffling and convoluted aspects of modern academia. What is it, though, and how exactly does the process of peer-review work? How can you make it work for you and why should you bother?

To answer some of these questions, I spoke with Steve Goldenberg, CEO for Interfolio, who is involved with creating technology solutions that can help facilitate the peer-review process at various stages and levels. Steve has been a part of higher education for more than 15 years.

Q: To start with, how would you actually describe the peer-review process? What is it and how, in a nutshell, would you say it works?

A: First, I should say that I’m not an academic, so my experience with peer review is secondhand, but, very broadly, peer review is part of the system of shared governance that ensures academic quality—experts in a field weigh in to determine if a piece of scholarship advances knowledge and, if so, whether it should be published. There’s also an element of checks and balances that enables academic freedom: because it’s “blind” and outside the structures of an institution, peer review ideally controls for commercial, political, or economic biases.

Q: Why do you think so many people struggle to navigate the peer-review process? What are the biggest challenges, do you think?

A: It depends which side of the process you’re coming from. Peer review is a powerful tool because it’s a fundamentally human process—it really relies on the intellectual expertise of scholars and their collaboration toward a common goal. But for those who are on committees, even though it’s a necessary and valuable contribution to their field, peer review can be a tough addition to an already overfull schedule, and so there is a risk that the process goes on for longer than necessary.

For authors and applicants, peer review can be a hard process because it involves sending your life’s work and passion into a black box. You need—and value—the validation of peer review, but once you submit a manuscript, let’s say, you don’t have a lot of insight into how long the process will take or when you will hear back. Understanding that you can only submit to one publication at a time, this has more than just a psychological impact: hiring or promotion can be hung up on hearing back from editors and reviewers, which is deadly for young scholars.

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