Reviewing Manuscripts

Reviewing manuscripts submitted to journals that subsequently ask you for your opinion is a chore that is essential to the proper functioning of science. A lot of effort went into the manuscript offered to you, so take this duty seriously. Judge whether the data are presented well and support the conclusions before concentrating on minor points, such as sentences to be improved. If the data don’t match with the conclusions, a rejection or major rewrite will most likely be recommended, so minor points are irrelevant. Judge a paper on what is written, not on what is not there, but could have been, unless it is essential to the scientific story. In your reviewer report point out what is novel and interesting about the study and to which extent the paper is within the scope of the journal.