by Liz Salazar
The Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University is expanding the Alexander and Diviya Magaro Peer Pre-Review Program—a service that aims to improve scholarship by accelerating the journal submission process—to develop a multi-institutional consortium. The Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis is the first affiliate to partner with IQSS and to add its own network of associate editors and peer reviewers to Harvard’s cohort. Washington University professors Gaetano Antinolfi and Ian Filmore will work with senior preceptor Chase Harrison at IQSS to coordinate the review process for submitted drafts.
Made possible by a gift from Alexander and Diviya Magaro, the IQSS Peer Pre-Review Program selects anonymous reviewers to provide direct, thorough feedback in a short turnaround time (usually within four weeks) on a submitted research document (e.g. grant proposal, pre-analysis plan, draft manuscript). The resulting product is a stronger finalized paper. This process can save the submitting researcher one or more rounds of journal submission, rejection, and resubmission—which can often take several months in the typical publication process, and may not even include constructive comments to guide the researcher’s revision process. By refining a paper through peer pre-review, the researcher’s work can see publication in a shorter time frame.
The reviewers who participate in the Peer Pre-Review process are vetted by the program and matched to research drafts according to their expertise and the subject matter involved. For their work, participating reviewers are offered a stipend in exchange for prompt, detailed feedback.
Many Harvard researchers have found the peer pre-review process so valuable that they now regularly turn to PPR when it’s time for them to get a new draft ready for journal submission. The program’s success at Harvard has attracted the attention of social scientists across the field, and as interest grows in the Magaro Peer Pre-Review Program, Washington University is anticipated to be the first of many institutions to join the consortium.
“Any scholar knows that journal rejections are routine in academia and can lead to months of delays, if their paper is ever published,” said Andrew Reeves, PhD ’08, Washington University’s director of the Weidenbaum Center and professor of political science in Arts & Sciences. “The peer pre-review process improves efficiency and productivity by giving researchers access to valuable feedback along the way rather than waiting until their manuscript is complete. We are excited to offer this invaluable service to our social science colleagues.”
With the new partnership between IQSS and the Weidenbaum Center comes the promise of a wider network of reviewers with expertise in a wider range of disciplines, which will in turn strengthen the quality of the reviews provided to participants. The Peer Pre-Review Program will also expand the number of academic researchers who will be able to use the peer pre-review process to publish their work more quickly and move on to the next steps in their research.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Washington University on the Peer Pre-Review Program,” said Gary King, director of IQSS and Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor. “This partnership will enable both universities to increase the quality of their research and to reduce the time from social scientific discoveries to when this knowledge is used to advance the public good.”
Participation in the Magaro Peer Pre-Review Program is open to anyone at Harvard University or Washington University in St. Louis who is conducting social science research (which is defined broadly as any research that has a social- or human-based focus). More information about the program, the peer pre-review process, and eligibility and submission requirements are available at the IQSS website.
Founded in 2005, the Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) is Harvard University's largest social science research center. IQSS has helped to create numerous programs, centers, and initiatives that continue to operate within the Institute, across the University, and as independent nonprofits and commercial firms outside of Harvard. IQSS is home to programs that include the Center for Geographic Analysis, the Human Flourishing Program, and Social Science One, and it has launched open-source software and platforms such as Dataverse, OpenScholar, and OpenDP.
More on the Magaro Peer Pre-Review Program
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FEATUREStreamlining the Publication Process with the Magaro Peer Pre-Review Program |
