Becoming a Peer Reviewer: Everything You Need to Know

Peer review is essential to scientific progress – it upholds the quality, integrity, and credibility of research published in academic journals. The process helps authors strengthen their submitted papers and assists the editors in deciding the next steps for the manuscripts.

How to Become a Peer Reviewer:

While there is no defined path to becoming a reviewer, there are several things you can do to increase your chances of being invited to review future manuscripts:

  • Make sure that you have a profile page, or create one, on the submission site of the journal you want to support. Indicate your area of expertise and keep your profile information up to date so the editors can reach you when a suitable manuscript is under consideration.
  • Join our community of Engaged Reviewers* by watching our recorded webinar below and taking our Assessment. After passing the assessment, you can sign up to review for journals of your choice, and your accreditation will be tagged to your profile in our submission system.*
  • Connect with journal editors, either by networking at conferences or through a colleague
  • Connect with other subject experts at professional conferences.

 

What It Means to Be a Peer Reviewer with AIP Publishing:

  • By agreeing to review, you are agreeing to:
    • Abide by the peer review policies of the journal
    • Complete the review in a timely fashion, adhering to the editor’s deadline
    • Be fair, constructive, actionable and unbiased
    • Disclose any possible conflicts of interest
    • Review the paper again if needed
  • AIPP partners with our authors to find the best home for their research quickly and easily through our manuscript transfer service. If an author chooses to transfer their manuscript to another AIPP journal, your review comments will also be transferred and treated with the same care and confidentiality in the next journal as with the original journal.
  • Authors may choose to share your review independently.

 

Watch our Webinar on Demand Now

In this 45-minute educational webinar on peer review, our esteemed panel of AIPP journal editors provide valuable insight into the peer review process, publishing ethics, and how to become a peer reviewer. 

You will learn:

  • The basics of peer review and its critical role in scientific publication
  • How a reviewer is selected
  • The expectations and role of a reviewer, including navigating publishing ethic
  • How to create a helpful and constructive peer review report


 

Meet Our Esteemed Panel

Presenter:
Olivia Zarzycki
Researcher Engagement Specialist,
AIP Publishing

Expert Panelists:

Ferdinand Grozema
TU Delft, The Netherlands
Associate Editor, Chemical Physics Reviews

Monica Lira-Cantu
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Spain
Editor-in-Chief, APL Energy

Simon Phillpot
University of Florida, USA
Deputy Editor, Journal of Applied Physics

 

*AIPP Engaged Reviewer Assessment:

After successfully completing this assessment, you will be flagged as an Engaged Reviewer in our article submission system. You will then be prompted to specify which journals you are interested in reviewing for. This will enable our editors to locate and engage with you more efficiently for peer review.

While we recommend that you watch our recorded webinar and take the assessment, neither are required to review for an AIPP journal.

TAKE THE ASSESSMENT

 

 

Find Out More

Roles and Responsibilities of Reviewers – more information on peer review including the reviewer report, timelines, confidentiality, and anonymity

Policies and Ethics – for editors and reviewers