Lim, J.J. orcid.org/0009-0008-5213-9334, Cheetham, L. orcid.org/0000-0002-9489-6965, Graham, C.J. orcid.org/0000-0002-1144-7970 et al. (2 more authors) (2025) How to … build a peer reviewer community in health professions education. The Clinical Teacher, 22 (1). e70009. ISSN 1743-4971
Abstract
Peer review is the cornerstone of academic publishing that upholds the quality and integrity of scholarly work. However, there is an ever‐growing struggle to recruit peer reviewers, termed the ‘peer review crisis’, driven by a shrinking academic workforce and increased workload. Additionally, there is a notable lack of standardised training for peer reviewers which poses a challenge in maintaining high‐quality reviews. In this ‘How to …’ paper, we demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of establishing a community of practice (CoP) aimed at fostering professional development among multiprofessional early‐career scholars in health professions education. A CoP is structured around three core components: <jats:italic>domain</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>community</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>practice</jats:italic>. This community's <jats:italic>domain</jats:italic> focuses on recruiting scholars with a shared interest in health professions education, research and peer review. The <jats:italic>community's</jats:italic> component promotes inclusive and regular interactions through synchronous meetings and asynchronous communication, encouraging engagement, mutual learning and collaboration among diverse participants. <jats:italic>Practice</jats:italic> is cultivated through peer‐led teaching sessions and the use of digital platforms, enabling participants to build peer review competencies collaboratively. Based on our experience as participants in the Association for the Studies of Medical Education (ASME) and <jats:italic>The Clinical Teacher</jats:italic> (TCT) awarded programme of professional development in educational research and peer review, we propose that this model may help other institutional health professions education groups and journals adopt similar practices. Providing early‐career scholars with opportunities to develop academic skills will not only help create a sustainable, high‐quality pool of peer reviewers but also cultivate a more inclusive and skilled scholarly community.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). The Clinical Teacher published by Association for the Study of Medical Education and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | community of practice; early‐career scholars; health professions education; mentorship; peer review; peer reviewer training; Humans; Peer Review; Health Occupations; Peer Group |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Medicine and Population Health |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Jan 2025 12:01 |
Last Modified: | 10 Jan 2025 12:01 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.70009 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/tct.70009 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:221280 |
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Filename: How to & Build a Peer Reviewer Community in Health Professions Education.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 4.0