Role of faculty members in peer review
Faculty members form the backbone of peer review
As the name of the process implies, the process of reviewing articles, manuscripts and grant proposals falls to accomplished faculty members who stand out in their discipline. These individuals use guidelines determined by the institution, editors or granting agencies for judging the quality of the materials submitted in order to determine whether funding should be awarded or an article should be published. The process depends on thousands of volunteers in order to function effectively and efficiently. New faculty members are responsible for working into these roles gradually as they move into and through their careers.
Accomplished faculty members volunteer
In many cases peer reviewers are invited to participate, but they come from a pool of engaged and accomplished faculty members who started their careers by stepping up when an opportunity arose. As a new faculty member it is important to take advantage when the chance arises by helping to review conference proposals, or grants for small projects. It is these experiences that help build a critical eye for determining the quality of proposed activities or an original manuscript that will help a discipline move forward or in a new direction.
What Peer Review Entails
Peer Review
Authors and referees @npg, Nature Publishing Group
This site indicates that there are thousands of reviewers that collaborate to select the most important manuscripts in the discipline to publish in Nature journals. The process and the people are described on this site.
Information and Resources for Current Peer Reviewers
American Association of Museums
This site offers insight into the role of a peer reviewer with links to the peer reviewer manual, a newsletter for peer reviewers, an annotated list of resources, and a new peer reviewer agreement.
Rationale for Volunteering
Why You Should Volunteer to Serve as an NSF Reviewer
National Science Foundation
This site invites reviewers to volunteer in their area of expertise. NSF depends upon the reviewer community for nearly 240,000 reviews per year.
A Graduate Students’ Guide to Involvement in the Peer Review Process
APA Science Student Council (2005). American Psychological Association
The purpose of this paper is to provide psychology students who aspire to research or academic careers with background to better understand the peer review process and make informed decisions about when and how to become involved in it.
Becoming an Effective Peer Reviewer
A Video on Peer Review at NIH
Inside the NIH Grant Review Process, Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health
This mock review session meeting is designed to provide insight into the way NIH grant applications are reviewed for scientific and technical merit.
