13 IV B. Peer Review and OER
Peer Review
Peer Review is the process in which subject experts read through content and provide critical feedback and suggestions to improve the resource for its intended audience. It can take place at many stages in the publishing process. When we speak about peer review, we are typically talking about review that takes place before a book or article is published or officially released. However, peer review can also take place after the book is released – called post-publication peer review.
Peer review is invaluable for ensuring the quality of educational content, and is integral to the production of open texts, just as it is for scholarly monographs and journals. Its presence signals that the work has passed through rigorous quality control and that the content is suitable for use in the classroom.
This is especially significant when working with OER, as the quality, comprehensiveness, clarity, and currency of open texts and OER is often called into question. OER, due to their low-cost nature and ease of creation/publication, is mistakenly perceived as low-quality. Peer review is important to dispel these notions and to encourage wider use and adoption of the book – which is ultimately the goal of most projects. Not only does it give a public indicator of quality to potential adopters, but it also provides you with a feeling of security that the content developed is in keeping with the expertise within the field. Peer review is fundamentally a means for you to receive valuable feedback on your text’s content and make it stronger. It’s a chance for you to share your book with subject experts and ensure that the content is appropriate, accurate, and adequately covers the material.
Traditional Peer Review Process
For a very long time, publishers favored private, anonymous (‘blinded’) peer review, under the assumption that it would reduce bias and that authors would prefer for criticisms of their work to remain private.
- Researchers start with an idea, theory, and/or hypothesis
- Researchers conduct a study or do research in some way and write up their findings
- Researchers/authors submit a proposed article to a journal editor
- The journal editor decides if the article fits with the journal’s mission- if yes, it gets sent to 3-5 other experts/researchers in the field (called “reviewers”)
- The editor reviews feedback from the reviewers and decides to accept, revise, or reject the article.
- Usually the authors are sent the feedback and revision suggestions unless it is rejected after peer review
Open Peer Review
Open Peer Review was borne of the idea that by making author and reviewer identities public, more civil and constructive peer reviews will be submitted, and peer reviews can be put into context. In recent years, scientists have increasingly called for an Open alternative to traditional peer review. This has manifested in journals adopting Open Peer Review (OPR). Definitions of open peer review vary, but man