[Taxacom] Peer review and censorship

[Kathryn Hall]

Thank you all for your comments.

Yes, I do agree that an author has the right of rejoinder when submitting a corrected MS, and yes, I will reiterate the reasons behind the choice to use a certain reference alone or in combination with those recommended by the reviewer.

Perhaps I just found it tiresome that some reviewers assume a dictatorial stance and was concerned about a "greying" of papers - no one source being the font of all knowledge....

Thanks again for your opinions.
Best wishes,
Kathryn

--- "Thomas G. Lammers" <lammers at uwosh.edu> ---


>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
>-----------------------------------------------------------
>"Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that stood his ground."
>                                                               -- Anonymous
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Kathryn Hall, PhD
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow
Laboratory of Fish Diseases
Department of Aquatic Bioscience
The University of Tokyo
Yayoi 1-1-1
Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo 113-8657
JAPAN