Peer review

Peer review is the process by which manuscripts that are submitted to a journal are assessed and evaluated for their quality, value and credibility. Scholarly journals use peer review to protect and maintain the quality of material they publish. The process of review means that the articles in scholarly journals are generally of a higher quality than those published in other types of publications.

Journal editors select subject experts to review and evaluate submitted manuscripts before accepting (or rejecting) them for publication. Authors are required to respond to feedback provided by peer reviewers and manuscripts must pass the peer review process in order to be published.

The Conversation explainer: What is peer review? outlines the steps involved in peer review and some of the advantages and disadvantages of the process. 

See Strategic scholarly publishing for how to check the type of peer review undertaken by the journals you are considering.

Peer review training

Web of Science Academy provides an opportunity for Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students and early career researchers to take free online peer review training courses, with the option of working with a mentor.

Contact the wosacademy@clarivate.com for more information about Web of Science Academy.

Responding to peer review feedback

Reviewers usually propose one of the following:

  • Acceptance of a manuscript or a proposal.
  • Acceptance on condition that the author improves it in certain ways.
  • Rejection, but also encouragement to revise the manuscript and resubmit it.
  • Outright rejection.

The comments made by peer reviewers are not requirements, but suggestions. You need to decide which points you want to act upon. However, each suggestion should be acknowledged and justification provided for their acceptance or rejection.

Research datasets and peer review

If your publisher requires peer review of your research datasets, you can deposit your datasets in UQ eSpace.

Contact data@library.uq.edu.au if you have questions about confidentiality or embargo periods.