为什么有些学者能审阅大量期刊论文?

鉴于巨大的工作量缺乏明显回报,有些学者一天几篇同行评审意见的产出量着实令人费解

二月 14, 2024
A stack of papers to mark and a cup of coffee
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对于忙碌的学者来说,每周抽出时间审阅一两篇期刊投稿是一项艰巨的任务,但对于所谓的“高产审稿人”来说却并非如此,因为他们每天可以审阅多达7篇期刊投稿文章。

尽管学术界已经广泛讨论过“高产作者”现象,但最近关于一些学者今年就已完成近100篇同行评审建议的罕见案例在社交媒体上受到关注

学者们可以同时涉足这两个阵营:一位中东科学家在2023年发表了180篇论文(平均每两个工作日发表一篇),并在同一年审阅了812篇期刊投稿论文。

然而,诺丁汉大学(University of Nottingham)马来西亚校区前教务长格雷厄姆·肯德尔(Graham Kendall)表示,这个令人难以置信的数量根本比不上前几年高产审稿人所达到的水平。

在2022年的一篇论文中,肯德尔教授确定了Publons平台上10位最多产的审稿人,其中有3位在过去16年里平均每天审阅一篇期刊论文。有些人在效率最高的日子里,平均每天审阅多达7篇论文。

肯德尔教授告诉泰晤士高等教育,虽然学者争取多发表论文的动机是可以理解的,但如此巨大工作量的审稿却有些令人费解,因为这项工作通常是无偿的。

肯德尔教授形容这种现象“有点奇怪”,并说:“根据我的经验,你可以因为研究经费收入、论文发表量或发表主题演讲获得国际声誉等(指标)而获得晋升,但我从没遇到过任何职业晋升或招聘小组会考察你审阅了多少篇论文。”

“我知道有的人会在简历中添加此类信息,比如‘我审阅了x期刊的n篇论文’,但我自己从未这样做过。我甚至连审阅记录都没有保存过。”

肯德尔教授表示,他仍然“努力寻找一个充分的理由来解释为什么要审阅这么多论文”。

其他研究表明,一些多产审稿可能与出版成功无关。爱丁堡纳皮尔大学(Edinburgh Napier University)学者于2018年发表的一项研究发现,Publons上排名前100位审稿人中有49人是被引用率低的研究人员,其中7人的被引用或产出为零。

据悉,有一位审稿人每天审阅3篇论文,每次的审阅意见多达2400字,这一产出相当于熟练打字员每天约12小时的打字量。

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com

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Reader's comments (7)

The reality is the vast majority of these individuals do not review the papers. In my field, it is pretty common that the individual reviews the papers. However, when I was in graduate school (and even an undergraduate -- but I was an UG mainly taking graduate level courses), it was not uncommon for professors in research classes to hand out papers they had been given to review and asking people to write a review of them or discuss them as part of the class. Colleagues who operated large scale centres or laboratories invariably handed the work to others as part of their job contract or as a 'learning exercise'. So it is not a new phenomenon except in that there are way more journals and way more submissions and hence way more demand for reviewers and assessment exercises foster a more is better model of scholarship. In addition, many lower tier schools view reviewing for 'prestigious' (and this is defined in the eye of the beholder) journals as a good thing and also can be used as an excuse or justification for points toward promotion.
Two other possible explanations: 1. To build social capital with editors so that their own papers are treated more favorably; 2. To gather latest insights, ideas, and lit review, for one's own learning and consequently, use in own papers.
ChatGPT...?
I enjoy reviewing and take it very seriously. An author deserves careful consideration of their work and solid, constructive notes. For that reason I don't do more than one a month and often fewer. The benefit for me is that when I receive a really good article to review or an article has something novel or intriguing, it can be exciting. I have reviewed articles that have given me new perspectives or challenged my own ideas and even helped me when I have been a bit stuck in my own work. Poor articles also deserve constructive feedback that enables authors to develop their writing or their ideas. I have certainly benefitted from such feedback and I believe we have an obligation to fellow researchers. I struggle to imagine how banging out several reviews a day can result in good quality review and feedback.
Those who can't do, review. And do it poorly, no doubt
Obligation to fellow researchers to share ideas and improve their papers. And of course within reasonable limits. Review by one self and not outsourced.
In the end, one AI will specialize in emitting interesting questions for research, another will specialize in gathering relevant data, another AI will specialize in analysing and the last AI will specialize in reviewing the work of the first three.