For Peer Review Week 2024 UCL Press spoke with Dr Bill Booth (UCL, London), the co-Editor-in-Chief of Radical Americas. In this Q&A Bill discusses the processes involved in securing reviewer comments, and offers advice to early career researchers on how to get involved in the scholarly publishing community. This Q&A is an insightful read of a function of academic publishing that has become a cornerstone of research integrity.

How do you select reviewers for each paper?

The assigned editor for any given submission will use a combination of their subject knowledge and networks to identify suitable reviewers. This can be challenging in some circumstances, such as where the submission is of an interdisciplinary nature, or covers an area with a limited existing literature.

Are there any other challenges you’ve found in getting a good review?

On the whole, I would say it's harder getting people to commit to review in the current climate than it is to then get a good review from them; most of our reviewers are extremely constructive, engaged and enthusiastic. It is getting harder, though, for various reasons, to secure reviewers.

If you could give three key points for reviewers to consider when they are writing what would you say?

Think about context – the journal, the field, the topic - and not solely about content, though of course that is very important!

Empathise – we expect and welcome critique, and good scholarship depends on it, but it is best framed in a constructive and actionable manner.

Contribute – bring your own suggestions and use your expertise to help shape the process of scholarly publication!

How would you encourage early career researchers to get involved in the peer review process?

Make yourself known! We positively welcome early career researchers, sometimes paired with a well established senior scholar, to our review process. It's one of academia's unspoken truths, but early career often means that much more enmeshed with the newest scholarship.

This year’s theme for peer review week is Innovation and Technology in Peer Review. With the advent of AI tools to assist writing up research, do you imagine AI could be used to provide a good review?

Nothing I've read about AI makes me think so.

Finally, do you have a message to the reviewers of the journal?

A huge thank you! I review for several journals so I know how much effort it entails; as an editor, I also know how vitally important it is to the production of new, innovative and challenging scholarship!

Radical Americas peer review week Q&A peer review