Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2018; 110(2): 106-108
What are the Characteristics of an Excellent Review of Scientific Articles?
DOI: 10.5935/abc.20180032
The selection by a scientific journal’s editor-in-chief and associate editors of a manuscript for publishing is mainly, although not exclusively, based on the opinion of the manuscript’s reviewers. This process is known as peer review and consists on the manuscript’s assessment by experts in the area, who judge the scientific merit of the manuscript submitted to the journal. This process is expected to accept the better science for publishing, while refusing that of lower merit. Other standards and rules followed by editors of international journals contribute to improve the scientific quality of the journals. One of the most important contributions of peer review is the refinement of the manuscript regarding its clarity and content. To optimize the reviewer’s contribution in this process, understanding the characteristics involved is necessary.
In the peer-review system, it is crucial that the reviewer’s scientific opinion be transmitted to the editors in a clear and focused way regarding the essential aspects for decision making. This information is conveyed through writing by the reviewer in the review system of a given journal. Dealing with online article submission and review systems is challenging, and most of such systems are neither intuitive nor easy to use. However, this editorial will not focus on such difficulties, which can usually be overcome with the support of assistant editors and an efficient editorial office, which we fortunately have for the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (SBC) journals: the Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia and the International Journal of Cardiovascular Science. We will address the specific topics that should be clearly indicated by the reviewers to allow the editors to make their best decision possible. In addition to local specific suggestions that the SBC journals’ editors consider important, we add recommendations of other editors for an excellent-quality review.,
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