[Insight-users] IMAGINE... "THE"

[Luis Ibanez]

Peer-review is the most outstanding method for
ensuring the quality of scientific research.

Peer-review is great.

Only peer-review journals can be scientific.

Researches should only put peer-reviewed
publications on their resumes.

Professors should only be selected for Tenure
positions based on their peer-reviewed
publications.

Peer-reviewed publications are the ones that
should count when researchers apply for funding.




By the way...


      What does "peer" means ?



mmm, let's see, The Webster Dictionary:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=peer&x=0&y=0

Defines "peer" as:

  "One that is of equal standing with another :
   EQUAL;
   especially : one belonging to the same societal
   group especially based on age, grade, or status"



- Age ?   ... it says age ?....
- Grade ? ... that's what it says...
- Status ?... is "graduate student" a "status" ?
- Societal group ?   what is your societal group ?





Who are your peers ?



Look around you...



Who are your peers ?



How many of them there are ?

    Three ?, Four ?, Fifty ?
    Five hundred ?




Peer-review means that your articles are reviewed
by your peers. They judge the quality of your work
and engage in productive discussion with you with
the aim of generating progress in science. They
are the ones who want to run your algorithms and use
them for real work. They are the ones who read your
paper trying to reproduce your results, or compare
them with results of their own. They want to understand
what you did. They are in capacity to suggest improvements.
They know how hard is to do the work. You don't have
to impress them. They want to know if your method actually
doesn't work, so they don't follow this path and fall in
the same trap. You can be honest with them, if you are
not... sooner or later they will notice.


Your peers have names, faces, emails, hobbies, pets
and sometimes...  sense of humor.



Have you ever submitted to a journal how has
real "peer-review"  ?



mmm...
maybe that wasn't a real scientific journal.




IMAGINE:


    Imagine a scientific journal on-line where you have
    unlimited number of peers worldwide reviewing your
    article for unlimited time.



    Imagine...