The peer review process as an opportunity for learning / La evaluación por pares como oportunidad para el aprendizaje

Abstract

The experience of submitting research manuscripts for review in scientific journals commonly brings about excellent learning opportunities for authors, especially when they are at the beginning of their research careers. Infancia y Aprendizaje invited junior researchers to submit empirical studies for the publication of a special issue titled The peer review process as an opportunity for learning. The present article introduces the special issue. After reviewing several prior works in the field, we present the aims of the call for papers and describe its most relevant guidelines, as well as the criteria used in the preliminary screening of the 31 manuscripts received. We then present the papers that constitute the dossier: an article of the Prospectivas series; the four studies accepted for publication in this call; and finally, an editorial article in which we analyse how these four studies shifted during the peer review process and present some reflections from both authors and reviewers. We are confident that this special issue, along with the materials produced during the peer-review process (visit: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/riya20/37/4), will promote the learning of those who participate in the production, dissemination and use of knowledge in social sciences, whether in the capacity of readers, authors, reviewers and/or editors.

Review by (non)peers as an opportunity for learning: a case study on the editorial process of papers by junior researchers / La revisión por (im)pares como instancia de aprendizaje: un estudio de casos del proceso editorial de artículos de investigadoras noveles

“…The reason, in the words of Sánchez, García, and del Río (2002a), is that '(the) review process of the original manuscripts from the scientific bodies is only legitimate inasmuch as it is transparent and based on shared criteria and activities and dialogue from the community of scientific creators ' (p. 32, own translation). This effort to explicitly state the most common criteria behind editorial decisions has potential benefits for not only the authors (offering Monereo, & Scheuer, 2014), we began with a specific call for papers, in which Infancia y Aprendizaje invited junior researchers to submit empirical studies for publication in this special issue, titled The peer review process as an opportunity for learning (the original call for papers can be found in the 35/4 issue).…”

Fostering the professional development of junior authors and reviewers in scientific journals / Contribuyendo al desarrollo profesional de autores y revisores noveles en revistas científicas

“…Similar to our prior call (Bautista et al, 2014), we invited junior researchers in the journal's thematic areas to submit empirical studies for publication. According to the journal's standards, it was specified that literature reviews would not be accepted, that manuscripts should not exceed the limit of 6,500 words (including abstract, keywords, references, tables and figures) and that publication languages were Spanish and English.…”

“…There is widespread agreement that peer review offers numerous advantages. Many consider this system to be necessary to academic quality, arguing that it provides the greatest guarantee of the transparency and rigour in the science being published (Bautista et al, 2014). Peer review gives authors a formal opportunity to incorporate alternative voices or perspectives, detect any errors or flaws in logic, and enhance readability or structure of their manuscript prior to appearing in the public domain, thus infusing 'added value' into a publication (Luey, 2010).…”

“…All these factors make it difficult for young researchers to acquire the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to play this important role successfullythat is, in a manner that enhances the utility of the peer review exercise. We claim that journals have not only the potential, but also the responsibility, to provide young researchers with opportunities to further their learning and professional development as members of the scholarly community, not only in the role of authors (Bautista et al, 2014;Luey, 2010;Pedrazzini et al, 2014) but also in that of peer reviewers (Bautista & Castelló, 2015). The above-mentioned study by the Taylor & Francis Group (2016) uncovered a clear need for more training and guidance for those new to peer review (who typically demand standard guidelines and protocols to be followed), as well as the need for 'refresher training' for more established reviewers (who tend to require additional training in research methods and ways to identify fraudulent practices).…”

Escribir para publicar: Una experiencia con grupos de escritura de investigadores universitarios

“…Adicionalmente, en la actualidad las universidades públicas enfrentan el riesgo de disminución de fondos dedicados a la investigación debido a la pandemia generada por el COVID-19 (Feyen, 2020), lo que sin duda tendrá repercusiones en el número de publicaciones científicas y la promulgación de sus resultados. A pesar de la antedicha centralidad de las publicaciones científicas, los investigadores formados y en formación suelen encontrarse con limitadas intervenciones orientadas a la enseñanza de las prácticas letradas que rodean el escribir para publicar (Antoniou & Moriarty, 2008;Bautista et al, 2014;Gomez-Nashiki et al, 2014). En ciertas universidades (principalmente norteamericanas y europeas) se ha apoyado a los docentes ofreciéndoles talleres, tutorías y grupos de escritura (McGrail et al, 2006).…”