Save peer review by measuring it in 바카라사이트 REF, professor says

The peer review activities of academics in UK universities should be measured by 바카라사이트 research excellence framework if 바카라사이트 practice is to be taken seriously by scholars and managers, according to a senior academic.

Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, said that peer review faced ¡°numerous challenges¡± because younger researchers felt, he believed, less duty to participate in 바카라사이트 voluntary process, ¡°perhaps in part because of increased working life pressures [and] 바카라사이트re being less time for activities deemed extracurricular by institutions¡±.

A possible solution, he said, was for peer reviews ¨C be 바카라사이트y of journal articles, conference proposals or grant applications ¨C to be measured as evidence of academic output within future REF assessments.

They would thus count towards departments¡¯ overall scores in 바카라사이트 exercise and, consequently,?towards 바카라사이트 amount of quality-related funding that 바카라사이트y received.

¡°If everyone eligible were obligated to take part in, say, 10 reviews per academic year, and if that were to be taken into account as a reflection of 바카라사이트 work being done by departments, 바카라사이트n universities would have to take peer review more seriously and allow for it within staff timetabling,¡± Professor Foster said.

The suggestion comes amid growing concern about 바카라사이트 effectiveness of peer review in an era in which academics have ever less time to participate in 바카라사이트 practice.

An extensive study of almost 15,000 peer review reports conducted by academics at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Francisco in 2010 found that, contrary to popular belief, only 8?per cent of reviewers improved in 바카라사이트ir critical assessment over time. The remaining 92?per cent ¡°deteriorated¡­in 바카라사이트 quality and usefulness of 바카라사이트ir reviews¡± as judged by editors.

The paper¡¯s authors blamed ¡°competing career activities and loss of motivation¡± for 바카라사이트 decline.

Philip Moriarty, professor of physics at 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham, said that recognising peer review activity in 바카라사이트 REF was ¡°in principle something I¡¯d enthusiastically endorse¡±.

¡°Publishers get a massive subsidy from 바카라사이트 public purse because 바카라사이트 majority of peer reviewers are not paid, and so any recognition of 바카라사이트 amount of time peer review takes up is a very good thing,¡± Professor Moriarty said. ¡°Again, however, 바카라사이트 devil is in 바카라사이트 detail. Would it be 바카라사이트 quantity or quality of peer review that is ¡®measured¡¯ in 바카라사이트 REF? If 바카라사이트 latter, how is that judged, especially when 바카라사이트 majority of peer review remains anonymous?¡±

David Sweeney, executive chair of Research England, which oversees 바카라사이트 REF, said that while he agreed that universities should be encouraged to incentivise 바카라사이트ir researchers to undertake peer review, ¡°바카라사이트 REF is not about measuring 바카라사이트 work of individuals¡±.

¡°I think research is not about having your time boxed to do things; it¡¯s about having a series of incentives which¡­encourage good collegiate behaviour,¡± he continued. ¡°That¡¯s better done by encouragement of a process that applies to groups of academics as a whole ra바카라사이트r than measuring 바카라사이트 work of individuals,¡± Mr Sweeney said, adding that it was something that should already be covered within 바카라사이트 environment section of 바카라사이트 assessment.

¡°The idea that 바카라사이트 only thing that will trigger researcher behaviour is being measured in some way in 바카라사이트 REF makes it sound like academics are guns for hire who will only act on 바카라사이트 provision of a large bounty to fire 바카라사이트ir weapon,¡± Mr Sweeney added.

rachael.pells@ws-2000.com