Identifying the characteristics of excellent peer reviewers by using Publons

Abstract

PurposeThis study aimed to identify the characteristics of excellent peer reviewers by using Publons.com (an open and free online peer review website).Design/methodology/approachReviewers of the clinical medicine field on Publons were selected as the sample (n = 1,864). A logistic regression model was employed to examine the data.FindingsThe results revealed that reviewers' verified reviews, verified editor records, and whether they were the Publons mentors had significant and positive associations with excellent peer reviewers, while their research performance (including the number of articles indexed by Web of Science (WOS), citations, H-index and high-cited researcher), genders, words per review, number of current/past editorial boards, whether they had experiences of post-publication review on Publons and whether they were Publons academy graduates had no significant associations with excellent peer reviewers.Originality/valueThis study could help journals find excellent peer reviewers from free and open online platforms.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2021-0604.