Peer Review: an introduction for early-career researchers

Peer review is a vital element of the scholarly system, central to academic publication, funding awards, institutional research assessment, and many conferences.  It exists in many forms, with evaluative criteria and practical processes subject to wide variation and evolution.  Understanding peer review is important for an academic career, in the course of which researchers can expect to find themselves on both sides of the process, subject to others' expert scrutiny and consulted for their own.  

This introductory workshop is designed to de-mystify peer review in the humanities and social sciences, examining it in a broad context, and analysing and developing the necessary critical skills.  It highlights the reviewer's ethical responsibilities, and offers a range of practical guidance on the principles and standards involved in making a constructive contribution to the advancement of others' research and the integrity of the discipline. 

Please note: those who wish to participate in the workshop will need to bring an example of a published article in their field on which they feel able to offer a critique on the day of the workshop

Reviews for this workshop

The Open University

• ‘Very clear, good presentation, well paced. Lots of helpful material. Recommended.'

• 'An enjoyable day. Really enthusiastic tutor. Exercises used effectively.'

• 'Clear and engaging. This is a workshop that will equip you with the skills you need as a peer-reviewer. The section on ethics is especially important.'

CHASE Doctoral Training Partnership

• ‘Josie was brilliant – gave so much insight into current changes in HE and publishing. Absolutely invaluable.’

• ‘I greatly appreciated the content, but also the passion of the workshop leader. I commend and highly respect her expertise and the skill in transferring knowledge. The exercises were well balanced and also proved highly relevant to communicating the point. Well worth the time, and sure to leave you with a feeling of more optimism and enthusiasm about peer-reviewing and journal publishing.’

University of Kent / CHASE

• 'Thank you once again for such a fantastic training day. I really enjoyed it and really appreciated the way you paced the delivery of the content along the exercises we carried out in pairs. I found particularly helpful the task we carried out on the abstracts review process. I particularly enjoyed the way you covered peer review from its historical context to its future while explaining very clearly and in a very accessible language all aspects of its process. I left the training feeling substantially more confident about my future peer review opportunities, thanks also to the handouts. Thank you also for sharing so generously so many insights connected to your editorial/publishing knowledge.'

• ‘Absolutely recommended. Very engaging, encouraging, and obviously very well informed on the subject – excellent!’

• ‘Perfectly tailored to suit the needs of the group. An excellent, informative workshop for anyone who is planning to undertake peer review, or with an interest in publishing’

Goldsmith's / CHASE

• ‘A useful introduction to the history and problematics of peer reviewing. Extremely useful content on the future of journal publishing in the digital age.’

Courtauld Institute / CHASE

• ‘Very good and lively presentation and good spread of exercises during the day. A clear introduction to the ethical issues and current developments in peer review and academic publishing, with useful practical advice.’

Terms and conditions

The following groups are eligible to attend the training

• CHASE funded and associate PhD students,

• Arts and Humanities PhD students at CHASE member institutions,

• and students and members of staff at CHASE partner institutions

• Arts and Hum PhD students (via the AHRC mailing list)

By registering below you are requesting a place on this training programme or selected sessions that form part of the programme. A member of the CHASE team or the workshop leader will contact you in due course to confirm that a place has been allocated to you.

If you are allocated a place but can no longer attend, please email enquiries@chase.ac.uk so that your place can be reallocated. CHASE training is free to attend and events are often oversubscribed with a waiting list. Failure to notify us of non-attendance in good time (ideally 5 days prior to the workshop/programme) means your place cannot be reallocated and may result in your access to future CHASE training being restricted.