Editorial Peer Reviewers as Shepherds, Rather Than Gatekeepers

ABSTRACTThe journals of theAmerican Society for Bone and Mineral Research (theJournal of Bone and Mineral Research (JBMR) and its sister journalJBMR Plus) recognize peer review, whether pre ‐ or post‐publication, as an essential guard of scientific integrity and rigor that shapes academic discourse in our field. In this Perspective, we present a vision and philosophy of peer review in a rapidly changing publishing landscape. We emphasize the importance of journal peer reviewers as active players in shaping collegial behavior in the musculoskeletal research community and provide information about benefits and resources available for reviewers and reviewers‐in‐training. Publishing is becoming increasingly transparent, bringing benefits to authors, to reviewers, and to the s cientific community at large. We discuss new initiatives such as transparent peer review and preprint servers, the ways they are changing scientific publishing, and howJBMR is responding to broaden the impact of musculoskeletal research. We emphasize the need to change any perception of peer reviewers as gatekeepers to viewing them as shepherds, who partner with authors and editors in the publishing endeavor. Promoting access, transparency and collegiality in the way we assess science in our community will elevate its quality, clarify its communication, and increase its societal impact.
Source: Journal of Bone and Mineral Research - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Tags: Perspective Source Type: research