WIAS Course Survival Guide to Peer Review

 

 

 

Target Group The workshop is aimed at graduate research students and post-docs who are planning or have submitted a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal. This workshop is most useful to researchers who are beginning to publish peer-reviewed research. The course is useful for scientists across all disciplines.

Group Size 15-20 participants

Course duration 1 full day (9 am to 5 pm)

Language English (German possible if desired)

Name lecturer Professor Ulrike Müller, California State University Fresno

Venue All participants receive a message about the course location a few weeks before the start date of the course

Workshop format

The course will be structured like a workshop with short lectures on the role, process, and practices of peer review punctuating group and individual tasks (such as preparing a reply to reviewer comments), and discussions of best practices, current trends, misconceptions and common fallacies when preparing a response. We will develop strategies to prepare a strong and constructive reply to reviewer comments. Be prepared to talk about your research with other workshop participants.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this workshop, you should be able to:

• differentiate between fundamental criticisms that recognize true shortcomings in your science and comments that indicate fundamental misunderstandings of your manuscript by the reviewer

• formulate succinct, strong, and constructive responses to reviewer comments

• anticipate reviewer concerns before you submit your manuscript for peer review

• restructure & formulate sentences to increase their clarity and strengthen their message

• effectively use and provide peer feedback to quickly prepare strong responses to reviewers