Investing in the Academic Writing: Training Future Reviewers and Sustaining Efficient and Quality Peer Review

Abstract

Peer reviewers are considered gatekeepers in academic writing who play a pivotal and essential role during the publication process. Excellent manuscripts invariably need excellent reviewers. Producing peer reviewers with such caliber is time-consuming albeit necessary for the progress and continuity of academia. Despite the popular belief that an experienced author invariably makes a good reviewer, the reality is far-fetched. This suggests the need for peer reviewer training, which should be effective, logistically affordable, and demonstrate long-lasting positive impacts. Open review, co-review, and several reviewer training programs are already in place for this purpose with varying efficiencies. This narrative review discusses the current modalities available to a junior reviewer to improve his/her review skills and proposes a reviewer residency concept that could be adopted as a part of peer reviewer training.

Keywords: co-reviewing; junior reviewer; open review; peer review; peer reviewer; reviewer residency; trainee reviewer.

Figure 1. Schematic representation of a "Reviewer Residency" program