[EDLING:374] Peer Review: the challenges for the humanities and social sciences]

[Shannon Sauro]

Via baalmail.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Peer Review: the challenges for the humanities and social 
sciences
Date: 	Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:27:23 +0100
From: 	British Academy <britishacademy at email.britac.ac.uk>
Reply-To: 	British Academy <britishacademy at email.britac.ac.uk>
To: 	admin at baal.org.uk	

**

/Peer Review: the challenges for the humanities and social sciences/ - a 
British Academy report

On 5 September, the latest British Academy report/, Peer Review: the 
challenges for the humanities and social sciences 
<http://email.britac.ac.uk/_act/link.php?mId=A828288668612685141686&tId=1365071>/ 
will be launched at an event attended by leading representatives from 
national institutions and the research community.

Those who judge research into humanities and social sciences are under 
increasing pressure to assess its quality whilst receiving little, if 
any, incentive to do so, says the Academy report which calls for a 
series of changes by those responsible for research policy.

The British Academy, the national academy for the humanities and social 
sciences, produced the report in response to concerns about the peer 
review process. Peer review is a means of Â'quality controlÂ' whereby 
scholarly manuscripts and applications for funding are independently 
scrutinised by experts in that field. The process has been showing signs 
of strain in recent years. It is hard for experts to keep pace with 
changes in academia due to the expansion of print and electronic 
journals and a growth in research specialisation. The practice and role 
of peer review is poorly understood in some fields, exacerbated by the 
diversity that humanities and social sciences cover, ranging from 
archaeology to music to psychology. Training, therefore, is imperative, 
says the Academy.

Professor Albert Weale who chaired the Working Group that produced the 
report said, Â"It is hard to believe that although peer review is always 
spoken of as being the very foundation to academic quality that there is 
virtually no training available.Â"

Research is conducted in many different ways, according to the topic and 
may result, for example, in a monograph in a learned journal following 
several yearsÂ' study or a book offering an alternative world view. One 
size peer review, therefore, cannot fit all.

Sharon Witherspoon, Deputy Director of the Nuffield Foundation welcomes 
the publication of this Â"thoughtful reportÂ" by the British Academy. Â"It 
reaffirms the importance of peer review in the social sciences and 
humanities while recognising that it may operate somewhat differently in 
these disciplines than in the natural and physical sciences. It 
challenges funding organisations to improve the rigour and 
tough-mindedness of the research we fund,Â" she said.

To address the main concerns, the Academy is recommending that 
postgraduates and junior postdoctoral researchers receive formal 
training in how to become a competent reviewer and the expectations of 
that role in academic life. The importance of peer review, although 
time-consuming and costly, should be encouraged by institutions, 
supported by them in resource allocation and recognised as an integral 
part of the academic profession. It advances humanities and social 
sciences by facilitating high quality research and publication.

The Academy also recommends that care should be taken to ensure that 
metrics, that is, measures of academic performance, reflect the 
distinctive nature of humanities and social sciences research and are 
not based on existing forms of citation measures.

Â"We have an enormous resource of talent and intellect in the UK and we 
should be taking advantage of it through the peer review process,Â" said 
Professor Weale. Â"Universities benefit by the recruitment of expertise 
from overseas adding to the rich diversity of humanities and social 
sciences. All the more reason why people should be trained to recognise 
good research and rewarded accordingly,Â" he concluded.

*Notes *

1. /Peer Review: the challenges for the humanities and social sciences/ 
, is available from the Academy's website 
http://www.britac.ac.uk/reports/peer-review/index.html 
<http://email.britac.ac.uk/_act/link.php?mId=A828288668612685141686&tId=1365072>. 
Printed copies are available from Jo Blore: j.blore at britac.ac.uk 
<mailto:j.blore at britac.ac.uk> 020 7969 5225. If you have any comments or 
queries regarding the report please contact Vivienne Hurley: 
v.hurley at britac.ac.uk <mailto:v.hurley at britac.ac.uk> 020 7969 5268.

2. Members of the Working Group that produced the report are:

    * Chair: Professor Albert Weale, FBA, University of Essex
    * Professor Robert Bennett, FBA, University of Cambridge
    * Professor Kenneth Binmore, FBA, University College London
    * Professor Marianne Elliot, FBA, University of Liverpool
    * Professor Howard Glennerster, FBA, London School of Economics
    * Professor Marian Hobson, FBA, Queen Mary University of London
    * Professor Nicholas Jardine, FBA, University of Cambridge

3. The speakers at the launch event will be: Baroness OÂ'Neill,President 
of the British Academy; Professor Albert Weale, Chair of the Review 
Working Group; Professor Philip Esler, Chief Executive, Arts and 
Humanities Research Council (AHRC); Sharon Witherspoon, Deputy Director, 
Nuffield Foundation; and Professor Fiona Devine, University of Manchester.

4. The British Academy is the National Academy for the Humanities and 
Social Sciences.

5. Established by Royal Charter in 1902, the British Academy is an 
independent learned society promoting the humanities and social 
sciences. It is composed of Fellows elected in recognition of their 
distinction as scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Further 
details about the British Academy may be found at: 
http://www.britac.ac.uk 
<http://email.britac.ac.uk/_act/link.php?mId=A828288668612685141686&tId=1365073>

*The British Academy
10 Carlton House
London SW1Y 5AH *

	
*Tel: 020 7969 5200
Fax: 020 7969 5300
Web: www.britac.ac.uk 
<http://email.britac.ac.uk/_act/link.php?mId=A828288668612685141686&tId=1365074>*





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