The term research paper may also refer to an academic paper which contains an original study based on the analysis and interpretation of the data. In order to disseminate the research among other scholars, a research paper will often require to be published in an academic journal. Each paper will go to review process and must meet all publication quality standards. Shortly after the submitted paper is received by the journal’s editorial board, the paper will continue to be peer-reviewed.
Peer-review has been a formal part of scientific communication since the first scientific journals appeared. Every journals follow a policy of evaluating papers and saves valuable time before they take to publish accepted papers based on its approach and philosophy. Papers have been subjected to the peer-review process prior to publication for over centuries ago. Peer-review was introduced to scholarly publication in 1731 by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which published a collection of peer-reviewed medical papers.
There are 3 most common types of peer-review process in common use at present:
1. Single Blind Review
In this type of peer-review, the reviewers are aware of the names and affiliations of paper
Authors, howe the reviewers identity is kept anonymous from the authors.
2. Double Blind Review
In this type of peer-review both authors and reviewers are not aware of each other’s identity and affiliation.
3. Open Review
In an open peer eview, the authors and the reviewers both know each other’s identities.
Peer-review helps the editor or publisher reach a decision to accept or reject the papers for publication. The editor can also decide to reject the paper immediately before they even undergo a review process because it doesn’t meet the basic of the journal’s standard. Peer-review of a journal is defined as the process by which academic papers will be evaluated by one or more people with similar competences. Journal editors are always looking out for reviewers who are experts in the certain topics or particular fields and invite them to assess the paper based on the requirements of the journal. Reviewers will provide a review report as a feedback, which is generally written in a form that includes overall rating of papers and recommendations. Peer-review is a fundamental process to ensure the integrity, credibility and quality of final research paper. It also helps to improve the quality of published research, and increases networking possibilities within research communities.