Retrospective analysis of the quality of reviewer reports using an established Review Quality Instrument, and analysis of reviewer recommendations and author satisfaction surveys.
Control reviewers matched for previous review quality and volume were selected from nonattendees of the workshop.
We hypothesized that a manuscript-specific and more extended intervention pairing new reviewers with high-quality senior reviewers as mentors would improve subsequent review quality.
For BMC Infectious Diseases, the overall quality of reviewer reports measured by the Review Quality Instrument was 5% higher than for BMC Microbiology (p=0.042).
Prior efforts to train medical journal peer reviewers have not improved subsequent review quality, although such interventions were general and brief.
Our main outcome measures were the mean review quality rating score for each reviewer, and the slope in change (improvement or deterioration) in editor-assigned reviewer quality ratings from their first review until the end date of the study.
No other significant differences were seen in review quality between author suggested and other reviewers (see online supplementary table S5).
Science magazine has published a blistering critique of the most sacred cow of scientific research, namely the peer review quality system.
In addition, the college of radiology found no evidence of peer review, quality assurance meetings, outcome studies or mortality and morbidity (known as M&M) conferences, where doctors meet to review cases.
"Being on Peerage of Science definitely increased my review quality," Engler says.
This paper contributes theoretical knowledge to the review quality literature and, what we believe is the first exemplifier for adequately validating the solutions of review quality research.
