Peer-review is the heart of quality control when it comes to publishing our scientific results. It is almost exclusively based on voluntary service by the scientific community itself. Yet peer-reviewers are currently the most limited human resource in scientific publishing. Insights about the peer-review process are essential for the successful publication of your manuscript (more details on publishing are provided in the short course “Meet the Editors 1 & 2”), but the prospect of reviewing scientific manuscripts can appear daunting, especially to early career scientists (ECS). Open questions regarding the role as reviewer, expectations by the journal editors, and the degree of detail, but also ethical responsibilities may lead to doubts. This short course offers the opportunity to meet editors of internationally renowned journals to get answers to those questions and to eliminate the doubts regarding one’s aptitude as a reviewer:
• How is the peer-review process organized? How do editors search for and select reviewers?
• Which forms of peer review exist and what are the main differences?
• Tips for my first review: What to focus on and how to structure?
• What are (and are not!) the duties and roles of reviewers?
• What are the ethical responsibilities of reviewers? How do I deal with conflicts of interest?
• What are the benefits of voluntary peer-reviewing?
As part of the course, the EGU peer-review model and the details specific to the EGU journals will be presented. This includes the advantages of the EGU’s interactive open access publishing with multi-stage open peer review. Participants will have the opportunity to indicate their interest in the next edition of the EGU Peer Review Training (Fall 2026), where hands-on experience will be provided through the review of preprints on EGUsphere.
In this short course, there will be plenty of opportunity to raise follow-up questions and have an open discussion about how to become comfortable in the role as reviewer. The short course might be interesting for ECS conducting their first reviews but also for advanced scientists willing to share their experiences as reviewers (and authors).
Moreover, if you are interested in the aspects of writing and publishing your manuscript – don’t miss the short course “Meet the Editors (1 & 2): How to write, revise and publish your manuscript”. All parts of the “Meet the Editors” short courses can be listened to independently.