Three essential takeaways from our peer review webinar

In April 2022, we hosted a webinar on the different types of peer review used at Taylor & Francis and F1000. In this session, expert speakers Diana Marshall (Head of Reviewer Programmes, Taylor & Francis) and Lewis Willer (Senior Editorial Assistant, F1000) walked us through the most common peer review models and their benefits.   

Catch up on the webinar now by watching the recording below, or keep reading for three essential takeaways from this session. 

Three key factors form the foundation of the F1000 peer review model  

F1000 offers a fully open and transparent post-publication peer review process. But what does this mean in practice? To better understand how our peer review model works, there are three key factors to consider. 

(a) Are the author or reviewer’s identities known? 

The F1000 model opens up the peer review process using open identities. This means that both authors and reviewers know each other’s identities at every stage of the process.  

In fact, as part of our peer review process, authors are required to suggest peer reviewers for their work, using their expert knowledge of their field of study to identify possible candidates. 

(b) Are the reviewer reports published? 

 At F1000, peer review reports are published alongside the article for anyone to read, including reviewer names and affiliations. Open reports combined with open identities reinforce the model’s transparency, helping to reduce the possibility of bias in the review process. 

(c) When does peer review take place? 

Many journals follow a more common approach, where peer review takes place before the article becomes available to read. However, for all F1000 Platforms, peer review takes place after the article is published, making it a living, ongoing process.  

Post-publication peer review enables rapid publication, meaning authors can start seeing the impact of their work immediately, without the delays commonly associated with more traditional peer review models. Through our progressive model, authors can see their work online in a fully citable format in as few as 14 days.  

The F1000 peer review process is formal and invited 

In some open peer review models, the process can be informal, with reviews crowdsourced from all readers, meaning reviewers may not have the correct experience to be qualified. However, the F1000 model empowers authors to lead the peer review process by suggesting reviewers themselves. The Editorial team then rigorously checks all proposed reviewers to ensure they meet our stringent reviewer criteria.  

Reviewers should typically hold relevant academic qualifications and be experts in the field with a demonstrable publication record. Our Editorial team also checks whether reviewers have any competing interests that can impact the assessment of the article; any competing interests must be disclosed to the Editorial team.  

To ensure the validity of the process, reviewers cannot come from the same institution as the paper’s author. Where possible, we also try to ensure that peer reviewers are from different countries so that every article benefits from a diverse range of perspectives. 

Co-reviewing is a great way for early career researchers to get started with peer review  

Co-reviewing is when a peer reviewer works with a colleague, typically a more junior researcher, to assess an article. With F1000, co-reviewing can be particularly valuable as our open peer review model gives credit to co-reviewers for their work.  

A study on ECRs reported that 73% of respondents had co-authored a report without being the invited reviewer – yet almost half of them had not received any credit for doing so. Our model ensures that all reviewers receive credit for their work as: 

• Their names and affiliations are visible alongside the article 
• They can add their peer review reports to their ORCID ID 
• Their reports are available with a DOI, making them easy to cite 

For more information on our innovative peer review model, visit our online hub of resources.  

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