Improving peer review through co-reviewing

While peer review is intrinsic to research quality and scientific rigor, it is not a system without flaws. Both reviewer fatigue and the small pool of reviewers selected by editors can pose a threat to the sustainability of peer review and cause mistrust in the system.

It’s vital to overcome these challenges with new ways of reviewing work, and co-reviewing is one such way that can help.

We explore how co-reviewing can help to improve peer review and provide opportunities for researchers that are often overlooked in the process.

What is co-reviewing?

At HRB Open Research, we offer the option to co-review as part of the peer review process. This is when two or more academic experts collaborate on a peer review report by sharing their combined insights into the strengths and weaknesses of an article.

Often, this can take the form of a senior researcher and an early career researcher (ECR) working together, whereby an ECR applies to become a reviewer alongside a nominated expert, typically their supervisor or colleague.

What are the benefits of co-reviewing?

There are many benefits of co-reviewing for both senior and early career researchers.

Save time to overcome reviewer fatigue

One of the principal benefits of co-reviewing is its ability to help overcome reviewer fatigue.

By collaborating with others on a review, co-reviewing can help senior researchers, who are more often requested to act as reviewers, and to save time by splitting the workload.

Often, both researchers will read the article, after which the ECR reviewer will produce a peer review report, which the senior researcher will then review and add to – rather than having to write a report from scratch, which would take significantly more time.

As a result, this allows more time to be freed up for other work, including more peer review, while still ensuring quality in the peer review process.

Mentor the next generation of researchers

Additionally, going through this collaborative process allows senior researchers to mentor the future generation.

ECRs can develop skills in critical thinking, analysis, writing, and editing through acting as a reviewer, while also benefiting from advice and guidance from more senior and experienced peer reviewers.

Furthermore, it gives ECRs first-hand experience of the peer review process, which can help them to streamline and improve their own future publication experiences.

Get credit where it’s due

Another key benefit is to ensure all reviewers get credit.

It’s widely acknowledged that many ECRs are already co-reviewing papers in the traditional peer review model. In fact, a 2019 study surveying ECRs found that 73% of respondents had co-authored a peer review report when they were not the invited reviewer.

Yet almost half of the respondents hadn’t received any recognition for doing so.

As such, it’s clear that while co-reviewing is already the norm for many ECRs, formally recognising the value they provide and giving due credit is not.

In a co-reviewing model, all reviewers are named on the peer review reports, and each report gets its own DOI to ensure they can be cited and provided as evidence in career assessment.

Improve diversity of opinion and research quality

Finally, another key way in which co-reviewing can improve peer review is by broadening diversity and enhancing research quality.

One study found that ECRs are considerably more diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity than senior reviewers, which can help to bring different opinions to the table than are traditionally found in the existing peer review pool.

Additionally, invited reviewers often, in turn, invite their own co-reviewer with specific expertise to ensure all aspects of the article can be assessed fairly.

Widening this pool of reviewers, whether it’s through the diversity of researchers or diversity of expertise, can help to improve the quality of research by incorporating new, often overlooked, viewpoints.

Peer review at HRB Open Research

If you’d like to be part of this process, you can find out more about peer review at HRB Open Research and express your interest in becoming a reviewer yourself.

If you’d like to benefit from this peer review approach for your own work, find out more about publishing your HRB-funded work with the platform.