Panelists and attendees at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting considered the future of peer review and journal impact factors.
Scientists are asked to evaluate one another’s work in a variety of contexts, all of which can have lasting effects on both the reviewer’s and reviewee’s careers. From choosing which grants to fund to deciding which should be published (and where), peer review is integral to doing and communicating science. During a panel discussion on the future of the practice at the annual American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) meeting in New Orleans this week, journal editors, representatives from federal funding agencies, and working scientists gathered to deconstruct some of the perceived problems with peer review and propose ways these issues could be overcome.
