Peer Review
Categories: Regulations
Joe always had a superior available to review things in his life. When he was a baby, his mom reviewed what he was putting in his mouth. When he was a kid, teachers graded Joe’s papers. When he grew up, his wife reviewed his sock choices. Until Joe got a super niche PhD, and went on to do world-changing research (in cancer...what else?). But who would review Joe’s work now?
Peers, that’s who. Joe’s peers.
When you’re at the bleeding edge of your field, peer review is the only option left to get some feedback on really important, but really complicated research. Peer review is when your peers...people with the same or similar job as you...judge your research papers as an academic.
You’d want a friend to give your research a really good once-over before it was published anyway, right? Right. Well academic journal editors rely on it to make sure stuff’s legit.
Like anything involving humans and judging, peer review doesn’t always go over well. Often, a double blind peer review might be best, but that might make it even worse, hiding harsh reviews and stubborn ideology behind anonymity.
Sigh. It’s a hard knock life.
