Peer Review Week is an annual virtual event that celebrates the importance of peer review to research and scholarly communication. This year’s event takes place 25-29 September and is dedicated to the theme “Peer Review and The Future of Publishing.” This theme highlights the many factors transforming scholarly publishing, including calls for open access, language processing tools like ChatGPT, and the increased use of data and code. Through all of these shifts, peer review is crucial to publishing quality research, just as nondestructive testing is crucial to quality control.
“Similar to any other type of process, to maintain the credibility and the quality of the process, a feedback control and expert evaluation is necessary,” said Hossein Taheri, who serves as a contributing editor to ASNT’s monthly journal, Materials Evaluation. “Peer review plays such an important role in the publication process.”
Peer reviewers are essential to ASNT’s publications, including Materials Evaluation, Research in Nondestructive Evaluation, and ASNT’s books. ASNT relies on peer reviewers to help create a credible body of knowledge and present cutting-edge research that will further the industry.
“Besides the personal interest that I have in peer review process, contributing to the knowledge and professional development are two of my main reasons to be a peer reviewer,” Hossein said. “Through the peer review process, I can stay updated about the latest development in the field, as well as update and improve my critical thinking and research capabilities, which is going to help me in my future research as well.”
Peer reviewers for ASNT receive recertification points for their time and expertise. If you are interested in serving as a peer reviewer, visit ASNT’s Volunteer Portal to see current opportunities. If you already serve as a peer reviewer or have ever provided a review for ASNT, thank you! share your experiences this week using the hashtags #PeerReviewWeek and #FutureofPublishing.