Q&A on the Identity in Peer Review

 

What a pleasure it was to contribute to the Researcher Live - Edanz co-sponsored panel discussion on 24th, the last day of Peer Review Week, and take part as a panelist in the Q&A on 'Identity in peer review'! What a perfect way to end Peer Review Week 2021! You can listen to it here: 

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/stackademic/production/liveevents/df594347-117a-4dd7-a760-a4be77fb3d0f.mp3

Enjoy!

My Journey Through Peer Review Week 2021

When I attended the workshop Quality and Peer Review organised by Sense about Science this spring I expected it to be an informative event where I could find out more about what peer review is. The content discussed, however made me realise the importance of peer review, which made me take a look at the guide by Sense about Science called 'The nuts and bolts' in peer review.

Thanks to my attendance I then found out about Peer Review Week. It was unbelievable to me that there could be a week dedicated to peer review and I just found out about it now. To explore how I could contribute to the week, I volunteered to join the Peer Review Week 2021 Steering Committee. I was welcomed by the co-chairs and since May I have been active as co-chair of the Marketing and Communications committee in helping the PRW steering committee team prepare a great PRW 2021. So far, I have found my experience really inspiring because we get to work as a team with different individuals and organisations from all over the world to support them in sharing their incredible events and activities they have put together to inform and educate everyone about peer review.

The timing couldn’t have been better as around the same time I also got the news that I had been accepted onto the first stage of the Nature communications ECR peer review program, which allowed us to attend a very insightful webinar organised by `Nature Communications editors on constructive peer review. The webinar was mind-opening and allowed me to understand the process of peer review in more depth. I recently got selected into the second stage of the Nature communications ECR peer review program. I’m looking forward to the hands-on experience of peer reviewing an article from the Nature portfolio with the support of a mentor. Completing the Nature Masterclass course on peer review also helped me to get practically ready for conducting peer review.

Anyone who would like to take part in PRW 2021, please take a look at the activities that are being organised during peer review week at https://peerreviewweek.wordpress.com/2021-peer-review-week-activities/

The theme of this year’s Peer Review Week revolves around identity. The scholarly kitchen at https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2021/09/17/ask-the-peer-review-week-steering-committee-what-does-identity-in-peer-review-mean-to-you/ recently put together a collection of quotes by members of the 2021 Peer Review Week Steering Committee about what identity in peer review means to them. 

Here is what I said: ‘This year’s Peer Review Week’s theme is identity. What is identity? Identity is who we are. We are individuals who live at different levels, such as at the personal level, the professional level, the social level, the cultural level, and any other level. We might think that we use these different identities to connect with each other, for example, in our roles as an employee, a friend, a parent, a brother, a colleague. However, the truth is that it is through the diversity of our experiences and insights into life that we are able to connect with each other because at the spiritual level we are all one.

It is only by recognizing diversity that we can start celebrating humanity. When we acknowledge ourselves as who we truly are at the human level, we can promote peer review practices with inclusivity and equity and we can overcome any obstacle that might come our way. When we work through the process of peer review in a collaborative way, this is actually the moment when our identities, and our different backgrounds merge and we become one because peer review allows us all to come together in our shared aim to ensure high-quality research.

Recent events have shone light onto and emphasized our shared identity as human beings and we need to ensure that throughout Peer Review Week 2021 and beyond we develop a higher awareness as human souls for us to grow as authors and peer reviewers so that regardless of our earthly backgrounds, yes, we can express and show generosity, care, kindness, consideration and understanding as authors, peer reviewers, journal editors, publishers and readers.’

I also recommend the virtual panel discussion that is the first official 2021 Peer Review Week event that premiers today at 2PM BST https://peerreviewweek.wordpress.com/virtual-panel-finding-a-place-in-the-peer-review-process/

If you are interested in learning more about the process of peer review, I suggest starting with the guide here https://senseaboutscience.org/activities/peer-review-the-nuts-and-bolts/

And doing the course Nature Masterclass course focus on peer review here https://masterclasses.nature.com/focus-on-peer-review-online-course/16605550

I recommend you to find out more about suitable peer review courses that might be arranged in the professional scientific organisations that you are part of, and to talk to your supervisor and find out if you could start by co-revieiwing a paper with them.

It was an absolute honour to contribute to the virtual Peer Review Week 2021 panel discussion and I am delighted to contribute to ScienceTalks here http://talk.sciencenet.cn/?id=127 and to the Researcher Live - Edanz co-sponsored panel discussion on ‘Identity in peer review’ here https://www.researcher-app.com/paper/8756511

I’m looking forward to seeing you involved in peer review during Peer Review Week 2021 and beyond! Happy Peer Review Week 2021!

Peer Review Week 2021-ScienceTalks event

As part of Peer Review Week 2021, I have been invited as a panelist to take part in the seventh ScienceTalks event to be held on the ScienceNet blog where the topic will be 'Navigating peer review feedback: How can authors respond to reviewer comments'. 

Based on the topic, the event will be interesting for early-career researchers and therefore you can ask questions around dealing with peer review, knowing more about what reviewers expect, and understanding reviewers' comments such as the following:

• How to deal with the comments of reviewers;

• What to do if the author does not understand the reviewer’s comments;

• How the author responds to the reviewer's comments that he disagrees with;

• What to do if the author feels that the reviewer is biased/unfair;

• What is a good peer review;

ScienceNet blog is the Editage (CACTUS) ScienceNet account and the organisers are excited to be holding the event on 23rd September between 15:00-17:00 Bejing time that is 7.00 am to 9.00 am UTC. To find out more, have a look at their page at http://talk.sciencenet.cn/?id=127

I wish you Happy Peer Review Week 2021!

Peer Review Week Panel - Finding a place in the peer review process

Peer Review Week 2021 starts in 3 days and as part of the PRW 2021 Steering Committee, I would like to share with all of you the first official PRW event that is the first ever Peer Review Week Panel Discussion! This panel discussion revolves around this year's PRW's theme of identity and therefore the needs of early-career researchers working to develop their identities as authors and peer reviewers and ways scholarly publishers can support them. The PRW 2021 Steering Committee is very excited to release the virtual panel discussion recording on the PRW YouTube channel September 21st at 9AM ET/ 1PM GTM/ 2PM BST.

Here we have got the link that will lead you to the landing page with the panel details on the PRW website: https://peerreviewweek.wordpress.com/virtual-panel-finding-a-place-in-the-peer-review-process/

Peer Review Week 2021 is between 20th and 24th September and we invite you to share the news about PRW 2021 with academics and non-academics alike!

Student magazine reviews 'Multilingual Neuropoetry'

I am happy to share reviews by three students from the Pi Media student magazine that were published this week in their Science&Technology section. Laura Riggall, Rachel Dumbrell and Alexander Slaughter have reviewed for you what 'Multilingual Neuropoetry' means to them. To read their reviews on the Pi Media website, please click the link here: https://uclpimedia.com/online/book-review-multilingual-neuropoetry-by-dr-jayanthiny-kangatharan

Laura’s review

Multilingual Neuropoetry is a truly unique and fascinating anthology that connects both neuroscience and poetry to give rise to ‘neuropoetry’. By delving into multiple forms of poetry that are presented as riddles that in turn convey neuroscientific phenomena, from brain structures and disorders, to emotions and senses, the reader is invited to solve each riddle and identify the concept being described. Given poems are also presented in multiple languages to further link poetry, science and language, and a translation is subsequently offered alongside an informative summary related to the subject of the poem and the answer to the riddle.

As a neuroscientist myself, the riddles were entertaining to solve, and despite many years working in the field, kept me on my toes. Multilingual Neuropoetry also allowed me to appreciate further the complexity of the brain whilst simultaneously exposing me to different languages and multiple poetic forms – of particular note was the ‘rainbow poem’ devised by Dr Kangatharan herself. Interestingly, the reader is also equipped with tools to help create their own neuropoems if they so desire. 

Undoubtedly, Multilingual Neuropoetry will be enjoyed by all, no matter what background the reader is equipped with. This innovative book has been written well to entertain all audiences, and although I hurriedly read through it from start to finish (given my incessant need to solve every riddle), readers can instead easily use the anthology as a resource for whenever they may be tempted by a riddle, to learn a little more about the brain, and to expose themselves further to the many different languages and poem forms that are found in this world.

Rachel’s review

As a neuroscientist with little experience in languages or poetry, I found Multilingual Neuropoetry an enjoyable escape. Dr Kangatharan takes us away from the day-to-day reality of neuroscience to admire the beauty and complexity of the nervous system.

Multilingual Neuropoetry opens up the intriguing secrets of the nervous system, kindling the innate fascination we have for the workings of our own bodies. For those with little background in poetry, the introduction is incredibly informative, and definitely worth referring back to. This being quite a large section of text, I did not read it in one go but used it to understand the poems that caught my eye. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the anthology in this way, as it enabled me to decode the structure of a poem and understand why different poems were appealing in different ways. The quiz element of the poems elicits an immediate and effortless engagement with the text, and certainly makes this a fun book to read. 

Any initial nervousness a reader might have about the multilingual aspects is allayed by Dr Kangatharan’s translations. The translations also provide great help to amateur linguists who still wish to explore these beautiful structures in languages they are yet unfamiliar with. 

Overall, I found this anthology both thought-provoking and entertaining. For me, it was a great book to introduce me to reading and understanding poetry and has certainly inspired me to try and read more poetry. It has also opened my eyes to seeing the artistry involved in neuroscience.

Alex’s review

Dr Kangatharan interrupts neuroscience themed poetry with riddles, written in a variety of languages, with passages discussing the structure and science of the poems. As a philosopher now studying natural sciences, Multilingual Neuropoetry proved an entertaining exercise, an exercise that will in equal measure teach, tease, and test the same brain that it takes as its subject. 

You are led through a library of neuroscientific riddles, containing an Amazon of different poetic structures. It is a unique structure, and one that opens itself to non-sequential reading, but you would do well to read the accompanying neuroscience chapter and notes to the poem of your choice.

Dr Kangatharan covers a beautiful breadth that comes out best in discussion, and for such an unconventional book, an unconventional reading might be the most appropriate; I enjoyed my own copy the most when reading with a proper neuroscientist. The astonishing array of languages means that every reader will eventually meet their match. Fortunately, the answers to the poetic riddles are provided after, if you choose to admit defeat.

In subsequent editions, while free education is provided on aspects of poetry and science, the book would be more accessible with an alleyway into the languages themselves. While some readers may be familiar with French and German, the audience can feel challenged by Ancient Greek and Mandarin among other languages. I would have loved to learn more about the creation of some of these poems and see behind Dr Kangatharan’s writing process, which I believe she will include in the next iteration of the anthology.