~ Cactus Communications to drive conversations on different aspects of identity in the peer review process at Peer Review Week 2021 ~
Cactus Communications (CACTUS), a technology company accelerating scientific advancement, is co-chairing Peer Review Week 2021, an annual virtual event for the global scholarly community between September 20 and 24, 2021. The theme for this year’s event is Identity in Peer Review. For the first time in the history of Peer Review Week, the theme was selected through a global survey that was open to the scholarly community from April 7 to June 7, 2021. CACTUS’ activities this year will be hosted by its flagship brand Editage, and will include blog posts, interviews, and webinars focused on different aspects of identity, such as diversity and inclusion.
Peer Review Week, now in its 7th year, is an annual global event that brings together stakeholders from the scholarly community, including academics, researchers, publishers, and other parties interested in peer review such as journalists and science communication professionals. It celebrates the important role peer review plays and highlights areas of improvement in peer review practices. CACTUS, an organising committee member of Peer Review Week since 2016, is co-chairing this year’s event and will host activities during the event on its Editage platform that facilitate discussions on the topic of identity with key stakeholders, including experienced researchers, peer reviewers and publishers.
Jayashree Rajagopalan, Senior Manager, Global Community Engagement at Researcher.Life, (an online platform developed by CACTUS) and Co-Chair of the Peer Review Week 2021 steering committee, explained, “Peer Review Week 2021 will be even more special this year because the research community has chosen the theme for the event for the first time. This year, we will not only celebrate peer review but go a step further and talk about how identity plays a crucial role in the process. Peer review is an intricate ecosystem that influences, and is influenced by, the identities of everyone involved in it.”
She further added, “By focusing on the theme of identity this year, we hope to unravel how the interplay between personal, professional, and social identities influences the experience with and perception of the peer review process. Improving our understanding of the complex scholarly publishing ecosystem, while simultaneously raising awareness about issues related to identity will help us create more diverse and equitable processes moving forward.”
Abhishek Goel, CEO and Co-Founder, CACTUS, added, “It is well established that the global research community is a diverse one, with significant representation from Asian countries such as China. However, the global peer review pool does not reflect this, with most reviewers operating in Western countries. We need to challenge this disparity and ask ourselves what we can do to ensure the global peer reviewer pool is as diverse as the researchers it represents.”
“During Peer Review Week 2021, we will bring together key stakeholders, including experienced researchers, peer reviewers and publishers, to facilitate the conversations needed to bridge this gap in the form of interactive Q&A sessions, interviews, live webinars, blog posts and more.”
Each day of the event will highlight a different aspect of the theme, encouraging the community to participate in the dialog around identity in peer review. By providing a platform for researchers, peer reviewers, and publishers to openly share their experiences, CACTUS hopes to enable them to connect with and learn from each other. The online sessions facilitated by CACTUS are open and free to join and will be available to all registrants to view on-demand, along with any additional resources from the event.
To participate in CACTUS’ Peer Review Week 2021 activities, visit https://www.editage.com/info/peer-review-week-2021-editage/
