Communicating Expectations: Developing a Rubric for Peer Reviewers

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Scientific Publishing

Background:

• The peer-review process is crucial for scientific integrity but can be inconsistent without clear guidelines.
• Peer reviewer satisfaction and author adherence improve with structured rubrics offering specific criteria.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a standardized peer-review rubric developed by Sigma for evaluating scientific abstracts.
• To assess the effectiveness of an educational activity in training peer reviewers on rubric utilization.

Main Methods:

• Development of a specific peer-review rubric for scientific abstracts.
• Implementation of an asynchronous, provider-directed, provider-paced educational activity for peer reviewer training.

Main Results:

• The developed rubric aims to standardize the evaluation of scientific abstracts.
• The educational activity successfully informed peer reviewers about the rubric's benefits and application.

Conclusions:

• A structured peer-review rubric can improve consistency in evaluating scientific abstracts.
• Effective training programs are essential for the successful adoption and utilization of peer-review rubrics in scientific publishing.