This year’s Peer Review Week, an annual event led by academic publishers, institutions, societies, and researchers, explores the role of identity in peer review. Learn about events and ways to participate during the week of September 20-24.
Peer Review Week 2021
In an effort to practice transparency, the theme for Peer Review week was selected via an open global survey this year. The theme resonates with recent social justice movements and the need to re-evaluate how we amplify diverse voices and research literature.
“If the past year has taught us anything, I think it’s that recognizing the composite of identities that make up who we are as individuals, organizations, and populations, and the links between those identities, is essential to the future of scholarship and, ultimately, global progress. The pandemic has illuminated myriad deep-seated inequities that we need to address in all areas of society, with academia being no exception. And I think that starts with unpacking various aspects of personal and social identity and how we need to rethink the systems in which we operate to acknowledge and make space for diverse identities,” said Danielle Padula of Scholastica and PRW steering committee co-chair.
“Peer review is more than just a process. It is a teeming, thriving ecosystem that functions as a whole due to — and despite — the distinct roles played by each of the stakeholders involved in it. Peer Review Week 2021 is special. Not only are we celebrating peer review this year but we are also exploring how the distinct identities of the multiple stakeholders involved in it bring in added layers of diversity, expectations, perspectives, experience, knowledge, and skill. Awareness of how these distinct identities influence peer review will help us appreciate how the symbiotic scholarly publishing universe functions and adapts itself to changing demands. It will also help us build more inclusive and equitable peer review processes,” said Jayashree Rajagopalan of Cactus Communications and co-chair of the 2021 PRW steering committee.
Follow the hashtags #PeerReviewWeek21 and #IdentityInPeerReview to join the conversation and learn more about events during the week. You can also attend the virtual events sponsored by organizations involved in the peer-review process. These events highlight the role of personal and social identity in peer review and ways the scholarly community can foster more diverse, equitable, and inclusive peer review practices. See a curated list of events below, and explore the entire list on the Peer Review Week website.
Peer Review Week Events
Monday, September 20th
- Celebrating Peer Review, Online event by The Lancet, 8:00 AM PST
Tuesday, September 21st
- Virtual Panel: Finding a Place in the Peer Review Process, Online event by the Peer Review Week Steering Committee, 6:00 AM PST
- Diversity in Peer Review, Online event by The Lancet, 8:00 AM PST
- ORCID Workshop for Researchers: Update your ORCID Record to Save Time and Get Credit in Funding Applications, Research Reporting, and Publishing, Online event by Lyrasis, 11:00 AM PST
Wednesday, September 22nd
- Openness or Confidentiality in Peer Review, Online event by The American Physical Society, 7:00 AM PST
Thursday, September 23rd
- The Future of Preprint Peer Review, Online event by EMBL-EBI and Europe PMC, 2:00 AM PST
- Lived Experience in Peer Review, Online event by The Lancet, 8:00 AM PST
Friday, September 24th
- Identity in Research Infrastructure: An Overview of How Identity Is Managed in Scholarly Infrastructure, Online event by HighWire, 6:30 AM PST
