Q. If a person asked to review a paper for a top journal. He has high professional respect for the first author, and the paper looks not attractive to him. He also counts this author among his personal friends. Can he responsibly agree to review the paper? ( Describe your answer)
detailed answer will be appreciated. please answer considering conflict of interest.
Can he responsibly agree to review the paper?
Answer: The answer is Big no , Because in many cases friendship plays an important role, and professional relationships may take a back seat. Ethically also The person has to deny the review request and ask the journal to send the paper to some other reviewer for honest and detailed review.
For dealing with such situations top journals follow the practice of Blind peer review where both submitting author & reviewer does not know their identity , thereby assuring transparency , ethical guidelines and no conflict of interest arisees.
Get Answers For Free
Most questions answered within 1 hours.