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Big Journals, Small Journals, and the Two Peer Reviews
- Journal of Scholarly Publishing
- University of Toronto Press
- Volume 42, Number 4, July 2011
- pp. 534-538
- 10.1353/scp.2011.0032
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Although the fact is not widely recognized, editors of learned journals use peer review of submissions in different ways depending on the requirements of their publication. Peer review is a continuum that has distinctly different 'end members,' each with contrasting implications for an academic author. As a general rule, high-profile journals use reviewers' comments as part of the editorial process to help determine whether a paper should be published; only if the paper is not rejected will the journal expect these comments to help guide revision of the text for publication. In contrast, low-profile journals need material, and primarily use critical reviews and editorial comments to improve the content and presentation of a submission.