Peer Review

peer review, process whereby experts in a given field help judge the value of a relevant work or ideas that they were not part of creating. The primary function of peer review is gatekeeping—selecting the best from a pool of submissions. It also serves, however, as a source of constructive criticism, whereby expert feedback by peers can be taken into account to improve ideas, research proposals, and papers.

Peer review occurs in a variety of contexts. The two major areas, however, are editorial peer review, which involves the review of scientific or academic manuscripts submitted for publication or meeting presentation, and grant peer review, which involves the review of funding applications.

The following article focuses on editorial peer review of work submitted to scientific journals, although some of the issues discussed apply to other types of peer review as well.