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Reviewers—The Unsung Heroes of Publishing

Reviewers—The Unsung Heroes of Publishing LWW/AENJ AENJ-FTE August 6, 2007 19:9 Char Count= 0 Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal Vol. 29, No. 3, p. 183 Copyright c 2007 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins FROM THE Editors K. Sue Hoyt, Jean A. Proehl Reviewers—The Unsung Heroes of Publishing the final publication decision is made (Kearny & Freda, 2005). The value and validity of The past 18 months have been replete with blinded review is currently under debate for new experiences and challenges for us as a variety of reasons (Kearny & Freda, 2005), new editors for a new journal. Launching a but the fact remains that blinded review is journal is no small task, and we owe a huge a common practice. Thus, reviewers are not debt of gratitude to everyone who has helped recognized for the important contributions us get this far. We will not list names lest we they may have made to a specific manuscript. miss someone—not to mention exceed our Rewarding reviewers has been a topic of page quota. recent discussions among editors of nursing It goes without saying that the authors of and medical journals. The consensus is that the manuscripts do a huge amount of work. reviewers primarily undertake this important Authors are not paid for their work but they work out of a sense of professional duty and are recognized by having their names in print a desire to contribute to the scientific knowl- and, sometimes, by being cited as a reference edge base, not for material rewards. Most jour- in future articles. Authorship may also factor nals, AENJ included, publish a list of review- into one’s promotion or tenure status at work. ers’ names annually to acknowledge their con- Less visible but immensely important contri- tributions but few readers will understand the butions come from those behind the scenes, significance of their work. Therefore, we sub- staff, and volunteers. Volunteers? That’s right, mit this editorial as a more in-depth recogni- volunteers. An essential component in scien- tion of the important role that reviewers play. tific publishing is peer review—work that is They are truly the unsung heroes of scientific performed almost entirely by volunteers. publication. Michael Callaham, MD, Editor-in- Peer review is considered essential, the Chief of the Annals of Emergency Medicine, sine qua non for scholarly journals in all sums it up nicely: “Carefully done peer review scientific disciplines, including nursing and is probably as important to the advancement medicine. Peer review helps ensure the of science as is authorship itself.” quality of published works because experts have reviewed the content and found it REFERENCES worthy of publication. Reviewers may spend Hoyt, K. S., & Proehl, J. A. (2007). Peer review for profes- hours reviewing a manuscript. They look up sional publications. Advanced Emergency Nursing references, make suggestions for additional Journal, 29(3), 256–260. content and necessary clarification, and help Kearney, M. H., & Freda, M. C. (2005). Nurse editors’ views on the peer review process. Research in Nurs- correct grammatical errors and clumsy prose. ing & Health, 28, 444–452. They also assess the quality and design of research studies, the validity of research find- ---K. Sue Hoyt, RN, PhD, FNP, APRN,BC, ings and statistical analysis of the data, and CEN, FAEN Emergency Nurse Practitioner the conclusions made by the investigators. St. Mary Medical Center, Long Beach, CA Included in this issue of AENJ is an article describing the process of peer review in ---Jean A. Proehl, RN, MN, CEN, CCRN, greater detail (Hoyt & Proehl, 2007). FAEN Most nursing journals use a double-blind Emergency Clinical Nurse Specialist process and conceal the identity of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Lebanon, NH author and the reviewers at least until after http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal Wolters Kluwer Health

Reviewers—The Unsung Heroes of Publishing

Proehl, Jean A.
Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal , Volume 29 (3) – Jul 1, 2007
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Copyright
© 2007 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
ISSN
1931-4485
eISSN
1931-4493
DOI
10.1097/01.TME.0000286960.86663.2e

Abstract

LWW/AENJ AENJ-FTE August 6, 2007 19:9 Char Count= 0 Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal Vol. 29, No. 3, p. 183 Copyright c 2007 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins FROM THE Editors K. Sue Hoyt, Jean A. Proehl Reviewers—The Unsung Heroes of Publishing the final publication decision is made (Kearny & Freda, 2005). The value and validity of The past 18 months have been replete with blinded review is currently under debate for new experiences and challenges for us as a variety of reasons (Kearny & Freda, 2005), new editors for a new journal. Launching a but the fact remains that blinded review is journal is no small task, and we owe a huge a common practice. Thus, reviewers are not debt of gratitude to everyone who has helped recognized for the important contributions us get this far. We will not list names lest we they may have made to a specific manuscript. miss someone—not to mention exceed our Rewarding reviewers has been a topic of page quota. recent discussions among editors of nursing It goes without saying that the authors of and medical journals. The consensus is that the manuscripts do a huge amount of work. reviewers primarily undertake this important Authors are not paid for their work but they work out of a sense of professional duty and are recognized by having their names in print a desire to contribute to the scientific knowl- and, sometimes, by being cited as a reference edge base, not for material rewards. Most jour- in future articles. Authorship may also factor nals, AENJ included, publish a list of review- into one’s promotion or tenure status at work. ers’ names annually to acknowledge their con- Less visible but immensely important contri- tributions but few readers will understand the butions come from those behind the scenes, significance of their work. Therefore, we sub- staff, and volunteers. Volunteers? That’s right, mit this editorial as a more in-depth recogni- volunteers. An essential component in scien- tion of the important role that reviewers play. tific publishing is peer review—work that is They are truly the unsung heroes of scientific performed almost entirely by volunteers. publication. Michael Callaham, MD, Editor-in- Peer review is considered essential, the Chief of the Annals of Emergency Medicine, sine qua non for scholarly journals in all sums it up nicely: “Carefully done peer review scientific disciplines, including nursing and is probably as important to the advancement medicine. Peer review helps ensure the of science as is authorship itself.” quality of published works because experts have reviewed the content and found it REFERENCES worthy of publication. Reviewers may spend Hoyt, K. S., & Proehl, J. A. (2007). Peer review for profes- hours reviewing a manuscript. They look up sional publications. Advanced Emergency Nursing references, make suggestions for additional Journal, 29(3), 256–260. content and necessary clarification, and help Kearney, M. H., & Freda, M. C. (2005). Nurse editors’ views on the peer review process. Research in Nurs- correct grammatical errors and clumsy prose. ing & Health, 28, 444–452. They also assess the quality and design of research studies, the validity of research find- ---K. Sue Hoyt, RN, PhD, FNP, APRN,BC, ings and statistical analysis of the data, and CEN, FAEN Emergency Nurse Practitioner the conclusions made by the investigators. St. Mary Medical Center, Long Beach, CA Included in this issue of AENJ is an article describing the process of peer review in ---Jean A. Proehl, RN, MN, CEN, CCRN, greater detail (Hoyt & Proehl, 2007). FAEN Most nursing journals use a double-blind Emergency Clinical Nurse Specialist process and conceal the identity of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Lebanon, NH author and the reviewers at least until after

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Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal – Wolters Kluwer Health

Published: Jul 1, 2007

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