Rationally Speaking Podcast Rationally Speaking #57 - Peer Review
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Mar 25, 2012 They unpack how peer review actually works, from submission workflows to editorial decisions. They explore anonymity, reviewer incentives, and who volunteers their time. They debate open access, preprints, and alternatives like community or library-run review models. They weigh transparency, crowdsourced risks, and how public expectations of peer review should be calibrated.
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How Traditional Peer Review Timelines Work
- Peer review is a multi-stage gate where authors submit to one journal and wait months for accept, reject, or revise decisions.
- Massimo describes typical timelines: 3–6 months to hear back and up to a year+ with revisions and resubmissions.
How Editors Choose Reviewers
- Editors select 2–5 expert reviewers while avoiding conflicts of interest and institutional collaborators.
- Massimo keeps reviewer databases noting subfield and last-used date to avoid overusing the same reviewers.
Single Blind Review Encourages Author Bias
- Most journals use single-blind review (reviewers know authors, authors don't know reviewers), which introduces bias favoring known authors.
- Massimo cites studies showing anonymizing authors reduces that bias, yet practice persists by tradition.