Delivering Integrity in Peer Review Support

Posted on : June 10th 2022

Research is largely instrumental and integral to the evolution of human civilization. From the invention of the primitive wheel to the launch of private space flight, research has been the driving force in the advancement of society as fueled by human curiosity. In today’s fast-paced world, research and information are in high demand and consumption, necessitating fastest delivery and accessibility.

Peer review is extremely important to the research publication process as it helps to maintain and protect the integrity of the content. This practice dates back to a time long before the digital transformation of publication content. Prior to the advent of e-mails and online platforms, article peer review was a manual and labor-intensive journey. Times have changed, demands grew and technology kept up, but the principles behind peer review remain the same. Standards for research publication include the highest level of integrity and a rapid transition to accessibility. This is where technology serves as a catalyst for the peer review and publication process.

In the past decade, there has been a steady growth in journal submissions and an equally increasing demand for faster publication time. This trend is mostly attributed to more journals adopting the open access publication model. The evolution to open access has brought important benefits such as high journal readership and wide-reaching free access---benefits that need to be sustained. Peer review resources need to keep up with the demands of rapid publication requirements and rigid quality control. A technology-enabled editorial support is a much needed reinforcement to effectively facilitate the peer review process.

Straive has been a trusted industry partner to scholarly publishers for more than 3 decades, providing services and solutions that address the need to publish high-quality content at the fastest turnaround time. In support of the known challenges in the current peer review landscape, Straive has been developing editorial tools that serve as a technical aid for the academic and admin tasks of editors and journal staff. These solutions are designed to optimize the editorial and peer review processes by taking menial tasks away from high-value processes.

Intensive quality control of manuscripts can be accomplished efficiently with a shorter processing time. This is possible through tools that perform assessment and cross-referencing of content. Similarly, the editor admin task of selecting and inviting reviewers can be time-consuming, particularly in OA and mega journals. This can be aided by automated reviewer selection. This type of technology support allows the editors to have more bandwidth for academic-related tasks and shorten the time to decision.

At this point, Straive’s Editorial Assistant support has also taken on more and more responsibilities with regard to managing the journal workflow and performance. The role has evolved from fundamental admin and QC checks to SME support and other editor-engaging tasks.

Straive commits to understanding the pain points in peer review from the experiences of authors, editors, reviewers, and editorial staff. We continuously explore solutions for our publishing partners and journal stakeholders as the landscape of peer review continues to grow and evolve.