EDITORIAL
Praising the Peer Review
This quarter we replace the customary editorial with an expression of thanks to reviewers of manuscripts for this journal. Individually, you are unseen and, to the authors, anonymous persons who exercise talents to write professional judgments in support of the peer review process. The results come back in many forms, degrees and emotions. Depending upon circumstances we observe various descriptive classifications of attitude and emphasis, such as: Grammarian, challenges terminology and odd phrases. Typesetter, corrects the secretary’s homework. Tired one, skims when he should scan and writes a profound generalization. Self-doubter, offers an initial critique ending with a prayer of forgiveness to the author for having spoken ill. Revolutionist, wishes his name quoted to the author as one firmly opposed to the publishing of the message. Knight-in-armor, finding a kink forgets the rest of the work to spot-light the flaw. Cheerleader, finds every reason to dance and shout in praise, even in adversity. Adversary, rises up against any slighted reference which would have praised his own previous publication. Perfectionist, feels one more experiment would have made the work acceptable. Honest one, acknowledges an incompetence and refers his lacks to a colleague who sometimes replies. Vacationist, lays the work aside for two months while he lectures for a week in Japan. Historian, thinks there is nothing new since Newton and there are too many journals. Honest-doubter, accepts the work as a record of isolated experimentation but objects to the derived conclusion. Nationalist, won’t read the paper because it uses “foreign-English”. And, nota bene, there are the many scholars who, knowing the subject matter, pass mature judgment in a fair manner and recite the concurrence along with the bias in a brief-in itself worthy of publication. This is a message of praise for all reviewers serving Product RID. The replies from two or three can never be a statistic. Neither can the editor be an adequate impartial judge. Yet the system works. Authors need a medium, librarians need expanding archives and subscribers need to be informed. With this happy note we send Year End Greetings and thanks to all who take time to participate in the synthesis of the frontier.
Ind. Eng. Chem., Prod. Res. Dev., Vol. 14, No. 4. 1975
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