As we come to the end of Peer Review Week 2020, this week’s quote from Harper Lee seems rather appropriate – “I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.” When we write and publish, we invite feedback on the results of our work.

Given the event this week, there are a number of posts in our collection related to the peer review process, but we also have some additional items of interest on such topics as literature reviews, motivation, productivity, and open access.

As you embrace the week ahead, work to develop both your writing talent and a “thick hide”. Happy writing!

The economics of trust in peer review

While it may not be romantic, publishers — for-profit and non-profit alike — are in the business of transactions. And, while not every transaction requires an exchange of money (e.g., the download of a free ebook) there is a presumed set of characteristics to each transaction: a producer (publisher), provides a commodity (publication), to a consumer (reader, sometimes via a vendor). At work in every transaction, whether it is buying produce from the grocery store or obtaining a monograph from your favorite university press, is trust in the legitimacy of a product. In scholarly publishing, trust is achieved through the legitimate publication of research and argumentation, and the peer review process is fundamental to achieving that legitimacy.

#litreview – getting to argument, part 2

Writing about literatures doesn’t mean writing a summary of what you have read. You dont want a paragraph by paragraph laundry list of the texts you’ve been reading organised into a rough kind of order. Of course you write summaries as a means of making sense of your readings, but it’s not where you stop.

When you’re not motivated to write

I feel it’s important to consider this, for many reasons. The whole point of Solomon’s words, to me, is acceptance. “This is the way things work,” he seems to be saying. Just as the seasons of the earth come and go in cyclical cadence, everything in our lives works similarly. Why should writing be any different?

Master the art of productivity

Have you ever thought about what is the most common struggle that people have? Well, the answer might surprise you, but it is the aspect of productivity. This means that almost every individual in this world comes to a point where he or she is battling with their productivity levels.

Trust as an ethic and a practice in peer review

Trust is the theme of this year’s Peer Review Week, and we can’t think of anything more important or timely.  Peer review runs on trust. Trust is both a noun and a verb; both are central to how knowledge develops and is shared through research. And yet trust seems in short supply in our fractured and fraying world.

Diversifying readership through open access

Scholars and their publishers have in common the search for readers. In an information ecosystem inundated by books, journals and social media, readers, too, are always on the hunt for relevant and accessible publications.

Ask the community: What would improve trust in peer review?

Last week we asked the Chefs, and this week we asked the global community: “What would improve trust in peer review?”