Resource of the Week #114: The COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers

Hello again. A few months ago our Resource of the Week was a draft of the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Comments were being sought on the draft.

The finished guidelines have been released. A link to them now appears in the AuthorAID Resource Library. A few items have been added since the draft, and there have been some editorial revisions.

One addition states, “It is hoped that [these guidelines] will provide helpful guidance to researchers, be a reference for journals and editors in guiding their reviewers, and act as an educational resource for institutions in training their students and researchers.” These goals seem very consistent with AuthorAID.

Another addition says that when preparing their reports, peer reviewers should “be aware of the sensitivities surrounding language issues that are due to the authors writing in a language that is not their own, and phrase the feedback appropriately and with due respect.”

A third good addition reminds us that after the review, peer reviewers should “continue to keep details of the manuscript and its review confidential.”

If you haven’t looked at these guidelines, I encourage you to do so.

Until the next post—

Barbara