Guardians of science : fairness and reliability of peer review

Ever got a paper rejected? And have you wondered whether the mysterious process behind the editor's decision was fair and reliable? For many years, renowned scientific journals have resorted to peer review as the best available means of separating the wheat from the chaff in science publishing. But is peer review really fair, reliable and unbiased? And does it prevent fraud in science, or hinder innovative research? In this book H.-D. Daniel presents a detailed investigation into the peer review system of Angewandte Chemie, one of the world's leading chemistry journals. In particular, his analysis focuses on the \* content and level of agreement of referee reports \* fate and impact of papers rejected by Angewandte Chemie and published elsewhere \* level of bias involved in editorial and reviewers' decisions and based on incidental aspects, such as nationality, academic title and subject area of a paper's author(s). Scientists - who must publish (or perish) -, editors and all non- specialists interested in the controversial issue of quality control in science will be fascinated by this case study. Content: Chapter 1 Peer Review as an Instrument for the Self?Regulation of Science (page 1): Chapter 2 Peer Review as a Target for Criticism (pages 3–7): Chapter 3 The Journal Angewandte Chemie (pages 9–12): Chapter 4 Communications Received during the Year 1984 (pages 13–14): Chapter 5 Initial Internal Evaluation, External Review, and Editorial Decisions (pages 15–16): Chapter 6 The Reviewers for Angewandte Chemie (pages 17–18): Chapter 7 The Reviews (pages 19–20): Chapter 8 Reliability of Manuscript Refereeing (pages 21–28): Chapter 9 Fairness in Manuscript Evaluation (pages 29–46): Chapter 10 The Validity of Manuscript Review (pages 47–61): Chapter 11 Suggestions for Reform of the Peer?Review Process (pages 63–69): Chapter 12 Summary (pages 71–76): An analysis of one of the most controversial issues of modern scientific culture: peer review has been the subject matter of many articles in newspapers and general interest scientific and news magazines. This book considers the necessity of having a reliable method of separating the wheat from the chaff in science, in the light of the large number of recent cases of fraud in science. In this fascinating book, the author presents a detailed study of fairness, reliability and validity in peer review. A must for all scientists, scientific editors and writers, as well as non-specialists interested in one of the most controversial issues of modern scientific culture. Considers quality control in science. The large number of recent cases of fraud in science have highlighted the necessity of having a reliable method of separating fact from fiction and this book considers the controversial issue of peer review.