While many early-career researchers (ECR) already contribute substantially to peer review as co-referees, their work often go unrecognized. Peer review is pivotal to the scientific process, yet it is rarely subject to training. At the same time, scientific journals face a peer review bottleneck: publication volumes continue to rise while the pool of available reviewers grows more slowly, partially due to rapid demographic changes.
To address these challenges, EMBO has launched an initiative to invite senior postdocs to participate directly in peer review at Review Commons and the EMBO Press journals.
The initiative, led by EMBO Sara Monaco (Review Commons) and Bernd Pulverer (EMBO Press), was developed in collaboration with EMBL postdoctoral programme.
Head of EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme Karin Dumstrei and representatives of EMBL postdocs took part in the effort to design a framework that would provide postdocs with meaningful experience.
Designing the initiative
EMBL postdocs and EMBO Fellows with at least two years of postdoctoral experience were invited to self-nominate.
To ensure balanced perspectives, editors aim to include one postdoc among the three reviewers and encourage cross-commenting between the referees. Editors are available to answer questions and provide feedback to ECR referees.
The pilot includes now over 150 ECR referees. Participants demonstrated an above average willingness to contribute reports. Editors systematically evaluated reviews against criteria including scientific insight, depth of analysis, constructiveness and actionable recommendations, and found that the quality of postdoc reviews match that of seasoned referees.
Peer review training
In January, EMBO Press hosted a first training and discussion forum for ECR referees. The webinar offered insights into how editors use referee reports in editorial decision-making, what makes a review helpful for authors, and gave participants the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss future development of the project.
“This initiative aligns with the EMBO Press commitment to transparent peer review and referee credit”, says Bernd Pulverer. “By aiming to ensure that referees get as much out of peer review as the incredible effort they out in – through academic credit for review and training/feedback – we aim to embed peer review as a formal, valorized part of the academic process.”
Encouraged by the success of the pilot, the initiative has now expanded to include the labs of EMBO members and postdocs at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus. Additional research institutions are invited to consider joining this new model of peer review.
“This pilot demonstrates that including experienced postdocs in peer review is feasible, valuable and scalable,” says Sara Monaco. “The successful response points to a sustainable way of engaging ECRs more openly in the publishing process.”
