This week, 10-15 September 2018, is international Peer Review Week. Now in its fourth year, the annual one-week event raises awareness of the importance of peer review, quality peer review practices, and related trends and issues. This year, the theme is "Diversity in Peer Review". Educational events, discussions, and blogs are being organized by publishers, scholarly societies, and universities to promote diversity and inclusion in peer review. Follow @PeerRevWeek on Twitter (topic tags #PeerRevWk18, #PeerReviewWeek18 and #PeerRevDiversityInclusion).
The cross-industry initiative Think Check Submit lists questions that researchers can ask when navigating journal websites in order to identify trustworthy peer-reviewed journals. The checklists are useful for not only researchers but all stakeholders, including institutions, funders, and peer reviewers. The Think Check Submit team now want to hear from you from now to 28 September 2018, in a 10-minute online survey, so as to further improve its worldwide campaign.
In all your professional writing, you need to convey not only your intended message but also that you are indeed a professional. No matter if you are writing a research manuscript, a grant application, a journal cover letter, a job application letter, an academic essay, or a work email, you you need to sound like a knowledgeable writer, an effective communicator, and a professional in your field. Your text has to be easy to read and understand, while not annoying or offending the reader in any way. Especially if there is a limit on the number of words allowed (eg, in journal manuscripts), you need to concisely say what you mean, mean what you say, and not be mean in what you say.
Each new year brings new resolutions, and for researchers this may mean a vow to learn more skills, attend more conferences, or finish writing up a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. While your intentions are good, those of others may not be and there are companies that prey on early-career researchers, using spam email and websites to lure and cheat them. Make sure you trust the sources of any offers and websites, and check with your colleagues and supervisor(s). Train your critical thinking skills and ask some key questions.
A year ago, I was invited to give a presentation on author services at a publishing workshop of the International Association of STM Publishers, in Hong Kong. A year later, I am back in Hong Kong to give a talk to postgraduate research students and early-career researchers at The University of Hong Kong about ethical peer review and publishing, and to warn them against scam publishers and companies offering fake peer review. Editorial and publication support services for researchers and academic authors are now abundant, so how do you know they are trustworthy?
On this last day of Peer Review Week (11-17 September 2017), Dr Trevor Lane gives a wrap-up of events and activities of the week, and answers some of the questions that were asked by attendees at the two Edanz Group webinars (11 and 13 September) on how to perform a journal peer review.
To mark this year's Peer Review Week (11-17 September 2017), Edanz Group will be holding two free webinars to explore what the process of journal peer review is all about: one on 11 September (on reviewing papers) and one on 13 September (on how to write a peer review report), 7:00pm to 7:45pm Japan Standard Time. Register here to join each webinar and receive the recordings and additional tips after the webinar.
At Edanz Group seminars, I tell audiences that I volunteer as a Council Member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). However, when I ask who is familiar with COPE, so far only 4 of about 4000 people have raised their hand. This year marks COPE's 20th anniversary, so it is a good opportunity to take a closer look at publication ethics and COPE's role in developing international best practices in research publishing.
By learning how to effectively communicate your research findings at conferences and in research manuscripts, you will increase your chances of becoming an active member of the international academic and research community.