Quality and Peer Review of Research: An Adjudicating Role for Editors

Peer review gives research a stamp of approval, but the reviews themselves can be flawed. This is potentially serious for the writer, the journal, and journal user. This study describes shortcomings of the peer review process and condenses them into an explanatory framework involving situational, personal, social, and ethical factors. Some proposals to improve matters are impractical and may make them worse. Some data is offered which illustrates the problem and suggests a potential solution. Informed editors who avoid mechanical approaches engage cautiously and critically with reviews and guard against bias, even in themselves, could make a significant difference.     

On the Nature and Role of Peer Review in Mathematics

For the past three decades, peer review practices have received much attention in the literature. But although this literature covers many research fields, only one previous systematic study has been devoted to the practice of peer review in mathematics, namely a study by Geist, Löwe, and Van Kerkhove from 2010. This lack of attention may be due to a view that peer review in mathematics is more reliable, and therefore less interesting as an object of study, than peer review in other fields. In fact, Geist, Löwe, and Van Kerkhove argue that peer review in mathematics is relatively reliable. At the same time, peer review in mathematics differs from peer review in most, if not all, other fields in that papers submitted to mathematical journals are usually only reviewed by a single referee. Furthermore, recent empirical studies indicate that the referees do not check the papers line by line. I argue that, in spite of this, mathematical practice in general and refereeing practices in particular are such that the common practice of mathematical journals of using just one referee is justified from the point of view of proof validity assessment. The argument is based on interviews I conducted with seven mathematicians.     

Reliability of Reviewer Ratings in the Manuscript Peer Review Process: An Opportunity for Improvement

Accountability to authors and readers cannot exist without proper peer review practices. Thus, the information a journal seeks from its peer reviewers and how it makes use of this information is paramount. Disagreement amongst peer reviewers can be considerable, resulting in very diverse comments to authors. Incorporating a clear scoring system for key concrete items and requiring referees to provide justification for scores may ensure that reviewers contribute in a consistently fair and effective manner. This article evaluates information collected from reviewers and proposes an example of a system that aims to improve accountability, while having the potential to make it easier for reviewers to perform a more objective review.     

Validation of the CoRE Questionnaire for a Medical Journal Peer Review

If a peer review instrument asks concrete questions (defined as items that can only generate disagreement if reviewers have different degrees of expertise), then questionnaires could become more meaningful in terms of resolving subjectivity thus leading to more reviewer agreement. A concrete item questionnaire with well-chosen questions can also help resolve disagreement when reviewers have the same level of expertise. We have recently created the core-item reviewer evaluation (CoRE) questionnaire for which decision-threshold score levels have been created, but which have not been validated. This prospective validation of these thresholds for the CoRE questionnaire demonstrated strong agreement between reviewer recommendations and their reported score levels when tested prospectively at Clinical Medicine and Research. We conclude that using the CoRE questionnaire will help reduce peer reviewer disagreement. More importantly, when reviewer expertise varies, editors can more easily detect this and decide which opinion reflects the greater expertise.     

The Role of Child Characteristics and Peer Experiences in the Development of Peer Cooperation

Cooperation with peers is challenging for young children, and there are large individual differences in the development of cooperation. The roles of child characteristics and peer experiences for peer interaction during free play have been studied extensively, but it is unclear which factors predict young children's successful cooperation at different points in development. In this study, 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐year‐old children were observed during a peer cooperation task. Both their interactive behavior and cooperation success were examined, and the association of these variables with child characteristics and peer experiences was explored. Results showed that successful peer cooperation increased with age. Moreover, early individual differences in peer cooperation were related to temperamental characteristics, and, among older children, the rate of cooperation was related to prior peer experience.     

Problems with Traditional Science Publishing and Finding a Wider Niche for Post-Publication Peer Review

Science affects multiple basic sectors of society. Therefore, the findings made in science impact what takes place at a commercial level. More specifically, errors in the literature, incorrect findings, fraudulent data, poorly written scientific reports, or studies that cannot be reproduced not only serve as a burden on tax-payers’ money, but they also serve to diminish public trust in science and its findings. Therefore, there is every need to fortify the validity of data that exists in the science literature, not only to build trust among peers, and to sustain that trust, but to reestablish trust in the public and private academic sectors that are witnessing a veritable battle-ground in the world of science publishing, in some ways spurred by the rapid evolution of the open access (OA) movement. Even though many science journals, traditional and OA, claim to be peer reviewed, the truth is that different levels of peer review occur, and in some cases no, insufficient, or pseudo-peer review takes place. This ultimately leads to the erosion of quality and importance of science, allowing essentially anything to become published, provided that an outlet can be found. In some cases, predatory OA journals serve this purpose, allowing papers to be published, often without any peer review or quality control. In the light of an explosion of such cases in predatory OA publishing, and in severe inefficiencies and possible bias in the peer review of even respectable science journals, as evidenced by the increasing attention given to retractions, there is an urgent need to reform the way in which authors, editors, and publishers conduct the first line of quality control, the peer review. One way to address the problem is through post-publication peer review (PPPR), an efficient complement to traditional peer-review that allows for the continuous improvement and strengthening of the quality of science publishing. PPPR may also serve as a way to renew trust in scientific findings by correcting the literature. This article explores what is broadly being said about PPPR in the literature, so as to establish awareness and a possible first-tier prototype for the sciences for which such a system is undeveloped or weak.     

Cost of the NSERC Science Grant Peer Review System Exceeds the Cost of Giving Every Qualified Researcher a Baseline Grant

Using Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Canada (NSERC) statistics, we show that the?$40,000 (Canadian) cost of preparation for a grant application and rejection by peer review in 2007 exceeded that of giving every qualified investigator a direct baseline discovery grant of?$30,000 (average grant). This means the Canadian Federal Government could institute direct grants for 100%?of qualified applicants for the same money. We anticipate that the net result would be more and better research since more research would be conducted at the critical idea or discovery stage. Control of quality is assured through university hiring, promotion and tenure proceedings, journal reviews of submitted work, and the patent process, whose collective scrutiny far exceeds that of grant peer review. The greater efficiency in use of grant funds and increased innovation with baseline funding would provide a means of achieving the goals of the recent Canadian Value for Money and Accountability Review. We suggest that developing countries could leapfrog ahead by adopting from the start science grant systems that encourage innovation.     

Indeed: Cost of the NSERC Science Grant Peer Review System Exceeds the Cost of Giving Every Qualified Researcher a Baseline Grant

NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) offers Discovery Grants averaging Can$30,000 to about 70% of its applicants. If the total budget for these grants were evenly divided amongst the 10,000 people qualified to apply, the average grant size would be Can$41,000. The additional costs of writing and reviewing grant applications in our previous analysis only serve to accentuate the loss of funds that could otherwise be spent on the research itself. Baseline grants for the early stages of research, to all qualified researchers, would significantly enhance innovation of Canadian scientists.     

Preschool Children's Negative Emotionality and Peer Acceptance: The Moderating Role of Sleep

Preschool children's sleep was examined as a moderator of the association between negative emotionality and both peer acceptance and peer rejection. Participants were 115 children (47 percent girls, M age = 4.29 years, SD = .63). Preschool teachers reported on children's negative emotionality (anger/frustration, sadness, and fear). Sleep was measured objectively using actigraphy in the child's home for seven consecutive nights. Peer acceptance and rejection were assessed using children's choices in sociometric interviews. Controlling for potential confounds, moderation analyses revealed that negative emotionality predicted peer acceptance and rejection only among children with poorer sleep quality (lower sleep efficiency, more frequent wake episodes, longer sleep latency), but not better sleep quality. Findings suggest that sleep is important not only for predicting child functioning but also for moderating the adverse effects of negative emotionality on a salient indicator of interpersonal functioning for preschool age children.     

Peer Victimization: The Role of Emotions in Adaptive and Maladaptive Coping

Mediator models were examined in which children's emotional reactions to peer aggression were hypothesized to mediate their selection of coping strategies and subsequent peer victimization and internalizing problems. Self‐report data were collected from 145 ethnically diverse kindergarten through fifth grade children (66 females and 79 males) who attended a predominantly low‐ to middle‐class school. Hypothetical scenarios were used to assess children's anticipated responses to peer aggression. Victims reported more intense negative emotions (e.g., fear and anger) than did nonvictims. Fear emerged as a predictor of advice seeking which, in turn, predicted conflict resolution and fewer internalizing problems. Conflict resolution was associated with reductions in victimization. Anger and embarrassment predicted revenge seeking which, in turn, was associated with increases in victimization. Additional pathways predicting changes in peer victimization across a single academic year as a function of children's emotional and coping responses to peer abuse are discussed.     

The Role of Evaluator-Victim Relationships in Children's Evaluations of Peer Provocation

Second-, third-, fifth-, and sixth- grade children evaluated two hypothetical target peers in three provocation scenarios which differed as to the intent of a provocative act (Ambiguous, Accidental, Hostile). In addition to age and gender, evaluator-victim relationship was manipulated with children portrayed as being in a best friend, an acquaintance, or an enemy relationship with the victim, while the agent of the provocation was an unfamiliar peer. Evaluations were assessed in terms of attributions of aggressor's intentions, behavior response of the victim, evaluator's liking for victim, and evaluator's affect. Results indicated that older children evaluated aggressor's intentions and victim's behavior response more negatively than did younger children. Further, attributions of aggressor's intent significantly predicted the victim's subsequent behavioral response. Evaluator's affect was reported to be more negative when evaluating hostile provocation compared to accidental or ambiguous provocation and evaluators in acquaintance and enemy relationships with the victim reported liking the victim more after the provocation than before it occurred. Results are discussed in terms of the social relational and social situational influences on children's evaluations of peer interactions and the need to integrate these contextual factors in children's person perception research.     

Peer Acceptance and Friendships of Students with Disabilities in General Education: The Role of Child,Peer, and Classroom Variables

To understand the difficulties students with disabilities experience in their social participation in general education, this study examined which child, peer, and class variables relate to peer acceptance and friendships. In a cross‐sectional study, sociometric data were gathered for students without disabilities (N = 985) and students with disabilities (N = 65), together with personal related variables of students with disabilities, attitudes of peers towards students with disabilities, and classroom information. Using separate social networks for both boys and girls, the findings of the logistic multilevel regression analyses showed different outcomes for peer acceptance of boys and girls with disabilities. The implications of the findings are discussed in the light of possible interventions to improve peer acceptance and friendships of students with disabilities in general primary education.     

Open Review of Science Publications

Publication of scientific research in print is traditionally peer reviewed anonymously prior to publication, which is a time-tested process but has serious limitations. The advent of the Internet permits postpublication open review online after minimal review by the editors or the author-selected reviewers, which can be quick, that permits the authors to revise the content. Most meritorious articles published online may be selected for publication in print as annual or biennial collections.     

Teacher Reports of Children's Friendships and Social Groups: Agreement with Peer Reports and Implications for Studying Peer Similarity

Teacher–peer agreement about children’s friendships and social group affiliations was examined in a sample of 219 children in grades 1, 3, and 5. Peer reports were used to identify reciprocated friendships and informal social groups. Teachers listed each child’s closest friends and described the informal social groups existing in their classrooms. Teachers also rated children’s externalizing behavior problems and academic orientation and provided direct ratings of the externalizing behavior problems and academic orientation of children’s friends. Teacher–peer agreement was reliable for friendships and social groups and was stronger in the upper elementary grades. Estimates of peer similarity were highest when teachers provided global ratings of the behaviors of the children’s friends. Results suggest that teacher reports of children’s peer affiliations have some validity but result in inflated estimates of peer similarity.     

Family–Peer Linkages: The Mediational Role of Attentional Processes

The goal of this study was to examine the role of attention regulation as a mediator between parent–child relationships and peer social skills. Using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development data set, mother–child and father–child relationships measured at 54 months and grade 1 predicted peer social skills at first and third grades. Attentional control processes, especially ability to sustain attention and ratings of attention problems, served as mediators between parent–child relationships and peer outcomes. The implications of these processes for theories of family-peer relationships are noted.     

Positive Peer Relationships and Risk of Victimization in Chinese and South Korean Children's Peer Groups

This study examined the moderating role of positive peer relationships in the relation between behavioral or academic risk factors and victimization in Asian children's peer groups. We recruited 296 children (161 boys, 135 girls) from Tianjin, China (mean age of 11.5 years) and 122 children (66 boys, 56 girls) from Seoul, South Korea (approximate mean age of 11 years). The children's behavioral, academic and social functioning were assessed with a multi‐informant approach. Their behavioral and academic vulnerabilities were associated with their victimization by peers. However, these effects were mitigated for children who were able to establish positive relationships with their peers. Taken together, our findings highlight the potential buffering role of peer relationships in the cultural contexts examined.     

Adolescent Peer Groups and Social Identity

This study investigated processes by which adolescents form positive evaluations of their peer groups. One‐hundred and fifteen male and female adolescents aged 14–15 years made a series of comparisons between their own peer group (the ingroup) and a group of which they were not a member (the outgroup). In line with the predictions of social identity theory ( Tajfel and Turner, 1979 ), participants behaved consistently in ways which favoured the ingroup: compared to the outgroup, the ingroup was associated to a greater extent with positive characteristics (e.g. being fun, nice, and honest) and to a lesser extent with negative characteristics (e.g. being ignorant, unfriendly, and boring). Their responses were also related to levels of identification with the ingroup: at higher levels of identification participants reported more favourable evaluations of their groups. These findings extend earlier research and show how the benefits derived from group membership in adolescence are in part realised through intergroup processes.     

Relations among Sadness Regulation,Peer Acceptance,and Social Functioning in Early Adolescence: The Role of Gender

Using a multi‐informant approach, this study examined emotion regulation within the social context of White and Black adolescent peer groups by assessing two aspects of sadness expression management (i.e., inhibition, disinhibition) and their linkages to peer acceptance and social functioning as a function of gender and ethnicity. Seventh‐ and eighth‐grade adolescents (N = 155, 52 percent female, 54.8 percent Black) completed self‐reports and peer nominations of sadness management and sociometric ratings of peer acceptance. Parents rated their child's social competence and social problems. Results revealed specific patterns of sadness regulation across informants that were associated with social functioning and varied by gender, but not ethnicity. Boys were more likely than girls to minimize sadness displays; boys who violated this pattern had lower peer acceptance and higher parent‐rated social problems. In contrast, although girls were rated as displaying overt sadness more frequently than boys, this was unrelated to peer acceptance.