Recognizing Reviewers

Abstract

Since it was first formalized by the ‘Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society’ over three centuries ago, the peer review process has been a critical part of scholarly communication, and more broadly, of the scientific method. At the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry (IJQC), we are very grateful for the support of a large pool of reviewers who volunteer their precious time and unique expertise to help us reach publication decisions and to ensure that the articles we publish are useful and relevant to today's quantum chemistry research community. It is indisputable that the continued success of the journal (testified by its all-time-high 2015 impact factor of 2.184) would have not be possible without the support of our reviewers. However, despite its essential role in the scientific process, and while it diverts time and energy from your own research and your own papers and grants, peer review can seem like a daunting, thankless job and this voluntary contribution typically isn't valued by funding agencies or in important career-related decisions, such as hiring, evaluations and promotions. In fact, a recently published Wiley survey of over 3,000 reviewers found that “reviewers strongly believe that reviewing is inadequately acknowledged at present and should carry more weight in their institutions' evaluation process.”1 Whether or not funders and institutions give professional credit for reviewing activities, journals should provide ways to systematically and publicly recognize peer reviewer efforts. To achieve this, Wiley has partnered with Publons, the world's leading peer review recognition platform, after completing a 6-month pilot program that ran in 2015.2 Publons allows researchers to create their own online referee profiles with bios and peer-review activities for all journals they are affiliated with. The partnership with Wiley allows those who peer-review for any of the hundreds of participating journals to effortlessly record every review they have contributed. Because Wiley and Publons also track and verify reviews for rejected manuscripts, no effort goes unrecognized. Publons profiles can be kept private or publicly showcased. Depending on their age, career stage, geographical location and attitude towards peer-reviewer's anonymity, referees may want to choose different levels of details of their reviewer activity to be displayed publicly in their profile. IJQC gives reviewers full control of the display options, including allowing the publication of the reviewed article titles, and even the full text of the reviews—if you choose to do so. While peer-review activities are still rarely counted as research output and are undervalued for hiring and promotions, they nevertheless show that you're an active member of the research community and regarded as an expert by your peers. IJQC and Wiley are proud to help you showcase your reviewer status and important contributions via Publons; we hope you'll take advantage of it. Thank you for your support of the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry! Matteo Cavalleri Editor-in-Chief Top Reviewers, International Journal of Quantum Chemistry – 2016