Abstract
Peer review is the heart and soul of the scientific quality which this journal aims to ensure and constantly increase. Scientific research is 100% dependent on peer review. It is the key means of evolution of research as such, and differentiating if specific research is meaningful, relevant, and of high quality.
By reviewing manuscripts, they are improved, important aspects are lit up, and the review may help the authors to focus their work and learn from expert peers, blinded to the original source of the work.
Global Spine Journal is tapping into the vast and truly global community of AOSpine. Leading experts in all fields of spine care and research are present in this largest community of spine care professionals in the world. The top specialists around the globe are invited to become reviewers for Global Spine Journal.
One aspect, however, is quickly overlooked by many authors: The manuscripts are assigned, and by agreeing to review a manuscript, the reviewer increases his daily workload even more. Many also review for other journal publications, so finding time for proper reviews is becoming increasingly difficult for many of them. They spend their evenings, their weekends, and their spare time by writing the reviews in a thorough and high-quality way. Some experts may decline individual manuscript reviews or prolong their submission until the final deadline just to avoid getting too high of a workload of manuscripts for review.
The reviewers for Global Spine Journal, just like for many other scientific publications, are not reimbursed but they are recognized for their very important work. Review speed and quality are 2 substantial goals and each review is ranked according to these 2 criteria. These scores and the workload are summarized into a ranking of all reviewers. Each year, the Global Spine Journal Editorial Board has the honor to select the winners of the Best Reviewer Award. The awards are presented in a ceremony at the annual Global Spine Congress.
Besides having the opportunity to receive this prestigious award, reviewers now have the chance to establish a lifetime record of their review work through Global Spine Journal’s partnership with Publons. Publons is an online service aiming to improve recognition and adding more value to the tremendous work. When a reviewer signs up for Publons and opts-in on their SAGEtrack profile, their blinded reviews are automatically allocated to their Publons profile. This helps them because their peer review work is turning into a measurable indicator of each researcher’s expertise and contributions to their field. This is an easy to use and transparent way of recognizing the valuable work for every journal they review. It also helps to increase review quality and builds a community of expert reviewers over time.
The Editorial Board of the Global Spine Journal therefore encourages all of our reviewers to sign up for Publons (www.publons.com) and opt-in whenever they share their expertise in reviewing manuscripts.