Peer Review
A peer-reviewed or refereed journal is one in which the articles are subjected to analysis by specialists or scholars in the same discipline. The subject experts review a draft of the article to evaluate the quality of scholarship; clarity and soundness of the research and conclusions; its contribution to the field, etc. The reviewers might suggest modifications to the article prior to publication.
Three types of review processes are:
Single-blinded whereby the reviewer knows the author's name but the author(s) do not know the identity of the reviewer.
Double-blinded whereby neither the reviewer nor the author(s) have knowledge of the other's identity.
Open / Community does not have an agreed upon definition. It comprises the components of openness in author or reviewer identities; interaction between authors, editors and reviewers, and / or participation of a wider community in the peer review process.
An article has been peer reviewed if it has been reviewed by a group of the article author's peers prior to that article being published. Articles need to pass this peer review process before they are published, and sometimes articles have to undergo multiple rounds of review, with the author being required to edit anything from their grammar to tables portraying data, to the structure of the article.
AI and Peer Review
The peer review process is often a challenging part of the publishing process. Researchers have recently noted that their work has waited up to two years to complete the peer review process and this has some looking to AI for help. While this is a very new aspect of publication, it has received some attention lately.
- AI and Peer Review: Enemies or Allies?
- Artificial Intelligence to Support Publishing and Peer Review: A Summary and Review
- Artificial Intelligence and Peer Review" Through the Editor's Lens
- Can large language models provide useful feedback on research papers? A large-scale empirical analysis
- A Critical Examination of the Ethics of AI-Mediated Peer Review
- Ending Human-Dependent Peer Review
Ultimately, the decision will likely be made by the publishers and editors who have already begun to draft guidelines related to AI and peer review. In July of 2023, the NIH clearly stated, “Using AI in Peer Review is a Breach of Confidentiality” and Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policies includes statements on the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the journal editorial process and the journal peer review process Additionally, several editors of biomedical and humanities journals published “Editor's Statement on the Responsible Use of Generative AI Technologies in Scholarly Journal Publishing” in September of 2023.
Additional information on AI in publishing can be found on SMHS AI Research Guide and the Chester Fritz Library AI Research Guide.
