Busting myths about Peer Review
Michael Nielsen had a great post yesterday in which he attempts to debunk a few common myths about peer review.
Myth 1: Scientists have always used peer review
Myth 2: Peer review is reliable
Myth 3: Peer review is the way we determine what’s right and wrong in science
In his post, Michael presents some interesting anecdotes demonstrating just how bad peer review can screw up. For instance, between 2000 and 2001, one author was able to slip 21 fraudulent papers past the editors and peer reviewers at Science, Nature, and the Physical Review. The papers were retracted only after the broader scientific community weighed in. Equally shocking were the papers that were initially rejected by top-tier journals. Michael cites several high impact papers, including two that led to Nobel Prizes, which at first did not make the peer review cut. Any peer review system will have its flaws, and Michael reminds us once again that our current system has plenty of its own.
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