Euroscience Open Forum 2012

‘Stem cell research is being blocked by biased reviewers’; ‘Peer review keeps scientists firmly grounded’; ‘Impact factors corrupting peer review’. These are just some of the recent discussions among researchers, the media and the public about challenges to peer reviewed publishing. Peer review results in 1.3 million learned articles being published each year and is fundamental to the integration of new research findings in hundreds of fields of inquiry.
Many early career researchers want to find out about the peer review process, how to get involved in reviewing, and what to make of public discussions about fraud and misleading research claims in science and medicine. The typical questions raised by early career researchers will be addressed in a short guide that will be distributed to participants and discussed at the session.
This interactive session will be a chance for early career researchers to directly question academics and editors closely involved in the peer review process. It will explore how peer review works, approach some of the criticisms of the process, and discuss whether peer review has wider implications in society beyond the research world.