[Taxacom] Peer review and censorship

[Thomas G. Lammers]

At 08:39 AM 10/18/2006, Kathryn Hall wrote:
>I just wanted to ask a question about perceptions of censorship and bias 
>in peer review.  I just received a review directing me to use a particular 
>source.  I had used an alternative source, not necessarily in conflict, 
>but at least different, to the one recommended.  When I wrote the paper, I 
>chose a source relevant to me geographically and culturally, and which is 
>not "wrong".  Perhaps on another day I would have brushed it aside, but 
>today I am wondering, at what point does my right to choose a respected 
>source (i.e. peer-reviewed publication or museum published book) become 
>over-ridden by the will of an anonymous reviewer?  To me it smacks of 
>censorship, and I wondered, who is the censor, and who ordained them thus?

I cannot speak for all journals, but I have served as an associate editor 
of Systematic Botany.

In my work, I never considered such things more than suggestions.  The 
verbiage I used in my letter to authors follows:

"When you submit your revised manuscript, your cover letter should itemize 
each of the major points raised by the reviewers, briefly noting the action 
you have taken in regard to each.  In doing so, the burden is on you to 
either make the suggested revisions or to convince the editorial office 
that they should not be made."

If an author could articulate a reason for not complying with a reviewer's 
suggestions, I deferred to the author.  As an editor, I saw my primary duty 
to be to prevent errors.  If an author said, "The sky is green and the 
grass is blue," I must insist on changes.  Beyond that, there is room for 
differences of opinion and taste.


Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Curator of the Herbarium (OSH)
Department of Biology and Microbiology
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901-8640 USA

e-mail:       lammers at uwosh.edu
phone:      920-424-1002
fax:           920-424-1101

Plant systematics; classification, nomenclature, evolution, and 
biogeography of the Campanulaceae s. lat.

Webpages:
http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/Lammers.htm
http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/herbarium/herbarium.html
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Resort/7156/lammers.html
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