Expressive language can make for better reading, but pruning it from peer reviews might create a kinder research culture, say Rebekah Baglini and Christine Parsons.
Published: November 30, 2020
Like most scientists, we are both regularly asked to serve as peer reviewers: to rank proposals and candidates and to identify flaws that should prohibit a publication of a manuscript or provision of grant support. Journals encourage reviewers to ‘plainly state’ their opinion of a manuscript, and reviews of manuscripts and grants land in authors’ inboxes unfiltered and unedited.
However, some reviews are more hostile than others. Rejection is always difficult, but reviews that use emotive or sarcastic language are often the hardest for recipients to deal with, particularly if they are early-career researchers.
Read more https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03394-y