Am Nat 2009. Vol. 173, pp. E155–E158
© 2009 by The University of Chicago.
0003-0147/2009/17305-51114$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/598847
Editorial
The Golden Rule of Reviewing
Mark A. McPeek,1,* Donald L. DeAngelis,2 Ruth G. Shaw,3 Allen J. Moore,4 Mark D. Rausher,5 Donald R. Strong,6 Aaron M. Ellison,7 Louise Barrett,8 Loren Rieseberg,9 Michael D. Breed,10 Jack Sullivan,11 Craig W. Osenberg,12 Marcel Holyoak,13 and Mark A. Elgar14
1. Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 (Editor‐in‐Chief,American Naturalist);
2. U.S. Geological Survey/Florida Integrated Science Center, Department of Biology, University of Miami, P.O. Box 249118, Coral Gables, Florida 33124 (Editor, American Naturalist);
3. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 (Editor,American Naturalist);
4. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, United Kingdom (Editor in Chief, Journal of Evolutionary Biology);
5. Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708 (Editor‐in‐Chief, Evolution);
6. Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California 95616 (Editor‐in‐Chief, Ecology);
7. Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, Massachusetts 01366 (Editor‐in‐Chief, Ecological Monographs);
8. Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada (Executive Editor,Animal Behaviour);
9. Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada (Chief Editor, Molecular Ecology);
10. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Campus Box 334, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (Executive Editor, Animal Behaviour);
11. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844 (Editor‐in‐Chief, Systematic Biology);
12. Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (Editor‐in‐Chief, Oecologia);
13. Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, California 95616 (Editor‐in‐Chief, Ecology Letters);
14. Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia (Editor‐in‐Chief, Behavioral Ecology)
Abstract:
A major bottleneck in the time required to publish a scientific or scholarly paper is the speed with which reviews by peers are returned to journals. Peer review is a reciprocal altruistic system in which each individual may perform every task—editors, reviewers, and authors—at different times. Journals have no way to coerce reviewers to return their critiques faster. To greatly shorten the time to publication, all actors in this altruistic network should abide by the Golden Rule of Reviewing: review for others as you would have others review for you. Say yes to reviewing whenever your duties and schedule allow; provide a thorough, fair, and constructive critique of the work; and do it at your first opportunity regardless of the deadline.
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