Title/Theme: THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS

Date: 14th August 2021 

Time: 10 am (GMT+1)

Venue: Zoom

Introduction 

The moderator, Nurse Eniola Oluwadara gave a summary of what a peer review process is, to introduce the meeting participants to what to expect during the lecture.

He defined a peer review process as a system used to assess the quality of a research article before it is published. 

The assessment criteria include:

• The originality of the manuscript
• Validity of the manuscript
• Significance of the manuscript 

 He then introduced the speaker; Mrs. Chimerigo Anne Bright and handed the class over to her.

Overview: Mrs. Chimerigo Anne Bright began the lecture by sharing her slides, with her first slide revealing the lecture outline. 

She defined the peer review process as the process of subjecting a scholarly work, research, or idea to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field.

She highlighted the following in her lecture:

• Stages of a peer review process
• Features of a peer review process
• Characteristics of scholarly articles and journals
• Criteria for suitability of a manuscript
• Benefits of a peer review process
• Responding to peer reviewers’ comments
• Pitfalls in the peer review process
• Handling rejection of a paper

She said it is worthy of note that a researcher makes proper inquiries about the submission guidelines of a journal before he/she submits, to ensure the research article is in tandem with the guidelines, as this will stimulate the editorial team to select potential reviewers to review the paper and state their recommendations.

She advised that we have a positive response to whatever comments given by the reviewers, we should ensure we attend to all the comments either by making amendments or reasonably give clear reasons for what we’ve done.

The process of subjecting a scholarly work, research, or idea to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field.

Conclusion: She concluded that the beauty of a manuscript is in the quality of the peer-review process. We should persevere, never give up in the process and always be optimistic about the outcome. 

She encouraged that if we were rejected from a journal, we should make necessary corrections and submit the article to another journal. We should not settle for less.

Questions & Answers

Question 1: Is there any particular limit to the number of times a particular manuscript can be submitted?

Answer: there is no limit to the number of times a manuscript can be submitted, except the editor and reviewers are satisfied and the manuscript is accepted.

Question 2: What is the cost implication of submitting a manuscript for review?

Answer: Each journal has its amount stated on its website for submission.

Question 3: Is it necessary to notify a journal that a particular research article submitted was rejected by another journal?

Answer: If a particular article has been rejected by a journal, there is no need for such information.

Question 4: Is it possible that reviewers reject our manuscript because the errors are too many?

Answer: If it is the first time, the reviewers will point out some mistakes and what is expected of you is to correct the errors. Seek the opinions of your co-authors.

Question 5: How can an author or researcher assess the originality of a particular manuscript?

Answer: The researcher can do a plagiarism check, go through a “turn it in” process. She advised that we should not just copy and paste another research article, we should try to rephrase and add our own words.

Announcements/End of meeting

The meeting ended at about 11:16 am, with 40 members in attendance.

• If anyone needs research consultation or guide on abstract preparation for the upcoming INR conference. Such questions should be forwarded to the Director of Research and Statistics (Dr. Tola Yetunde) on yetunde.t@inrnigeria.org.

• All members were advised to stay in touch with the November Scientific Conference registration details which will be forwarded to the INR WHATSAPP page.

P.S: Reports do not contain full details of Journal Club meetings. To enjoy all that the Journal Club has to offer, you must become a member. To find out how to join the Club, follow this link.

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To register for the forthcoming International Scientific (Virtual) Conference follow this link. You will be guided on how to register & guidelines on abstract submission.

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