Suggesting Potential Peer Reviewers

Greetings again. I hope that all is going well for you.

Last week, an AuthorAID community member asked me for advice on suggesting potential peer reviewers. This blog post is adapted from the reply I sent her.

When authors submit papers, some journals ask them (or allow them) to suggest potential peer reviewers. The journal can then use 1 or more of these reviewers if it wishes. Commonly, a journal might use at least 1 reviewer the author suggests and at least 1 other reviewer.

If you’ll be suggesting potential reviewers to a journal, here’s some guidance:

List people who can competently and fairly evaluate your paper. Normally they should be experts in your research area. And they shouldn’t have conflicts of interest. For example, they shouldn't be your relatives, friends, or close colleagues.

Often, suitable people to list as potential reviewers are those whose work you’ve read, admired, and cited. A suggestion: At conferences, notice which attendees show expertise in your research area and interest in your work. Remember them when you have chances to suggest peer reviewers.

If you’re suggesting peer reviewers, just give the suggestions to the journal. Don’t seek people’s permission to list them, and don’t tell people they’re being listed. Such actions could produce conflicts of interest, as the people might feel pressured to review your work favorably. If the journal wants the people as reviewers, it will invite them.

Do you have thoughts on this topic? If so, please post a comment.

Wishing you a good week— Barbara