The golden rule of reviewing

American Naturalist
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Abstract

A major bottleneck in the time required to publish a scientific or scholarly paper is the speed with which reviews by peers are returned to journals. Peer review is a reciprocal altruistic system in which each individual may perform every task—editors, reviewers, and authors—at different times. Journals have no way to coerce reviewers to return their critiques faster. To greatly shorten the time to publication, all actors in this altruistic network should abide by the Golden Rule of Reviewing: review for others as you would have others review for you. Say yes to reviewing whenever your duties and schedule allow; provide a thorough, fair, and constructive critique of the work; and do it at your first opportunity regardless of the deadline.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title The golden rule of reviewing
Series title American Naturalist
DOI 10.1086/598847
Volume 173
Issue 5
Year Published 2009
Language English
Publisher The American Society of Naturalists
Publisher location Chicago, IL
Contributing office(s) Southeast Ecological Science Center
Description 4 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title American Naturalist
First page E155
Last page E158
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