Peer Review Vs Pre-Peer Review: What’s the Difference?

Academic publishing is the process of distributing new scholarly research through peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and theses. It is one of the major ways for researchers to share findings. However, before your research gets published in a journal or book, it has to pass through evaluation processes. This evaluation aims to ensure a manuscript is valid, original, accurate, and trustworthy.

The two major stages of these evaluation are peer review and pre-peer review. Some people use these words interchangeably, but let me tell you that these two stages are entirely different in terms of purposes and the points at which they occur in the research lifecycle. Moreover, knowing the difference between peer review and pre-peer review is important if you are part of the UK academic system. This is because the research standards are high in the UK. This research quality is driven by frameworks such as Research Excellence Framework by evaluating the originality, significance, and rigour of research outputs. Other than this, it also allows for benchmarking research quality against international standards.

Due to such frameworks, researchers in the UK have to make sure that their work is of top-notch quality before submission and credible enough to be formally evaluated after submission.

In this blog, we will be discussing the differences between peer review and pre-peer review, how each process works, and why pre-peer review is so important, etc. Let's begin!

What is Peer Review?

The academic peer review process is the formal evaluation of academic work by experts in the same field before it is published in a journal. In this process, the manuscript is shared with subject experts called peer reviewers who evaluate the paper for originality, accuracy, clarity, and relevance. Moreover, peer review is the quality control tool for academic journals. It leads to better standards of research and adds credibility to the research paper after publication. In simple words, peer review answers the question “Is this research good enough to be published?”

How Peer Review Works

The peer review process follows a structured process.

Peer Review Process UK

1. Manuscript Submission to a Journal:

The first step involves the author submitting their research paper to a journal relevant to their field.

2. Initial Editorial Screening:

The next step is the initial editor screening, in which the editor checks topic relevance, basic quality, and whether the paper aligns with the journal's scope, formatting, and originality by using plagiarism detection tools.

The editor has two choices: to reject the paper if it's not aligned with the standards or send it to independent and external reviewers.

3. Review by Independent Experts:

Next, the editors select the experts (2-3) in the field to evaluate the work. They may evaluate the methodology, arguments, data, and conclusion, etc.

4. Reviewer Feedback and Recommendation:

The next step involves the reviewers providing detailed comments and providing recommendations, such as:

• Accept
• Minor revision
• Major revisions
• Reject

5. Revision by the Author:

The next step involves the revision by the author based on the recommendations and comments provided by the reviewers.

6. Final Editorial Decision:

Lastly, the editor makes the final decision considering the reviewers' comments and revisions.

Types of Peer Review:

Single-blind Review:

In this type of review, the reviewer is not known to the author. However, the reviews know the author's identity. This type of review is criticised as it can lead to bias.

Double-blind Review:

In this type of peer review, both the author and reviewers remain anonymous. It is common in UK journals to reduce bias.

Open Peer Review:

Reviewers and authors know each other’s identities throughout the process. Sometimes reports are published alongside the article.

What is the Importance of Peer Review in the UK Academic System?

In the UK academic system, peer review plays an important role in maintaining academic integrity. To publish a paper in a journal, peer review is the final step.

• Research credibility: peer review ensures high-quality and accurate research gets published in academic journals. Also, it filters out weak and inaccurate studies to protect the reputation of the researcher and the institution.
• Academic standards: research paper peer review ensures that it aligns with the academic standards and that it is worthy enough to be published in the academic journal.
• Required for publishing in reputable journals: a research paper is not considered acceptable or of high quality until it passes the peer review.
• Research assessments like REF: peer review are also crucial for REF, which evaluate the quality of research in UK universities. It helps to determine the distribution of public research funding.
• Filters out weak and unreliable studies.
• Funding decisions: Peer review is also crucial for the UK research councils to make critical decisions for the funding.

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What is Pre-Peer Review?

Pre-peer review is the informal evaluation or preparation of a manuscript before submitting it to a journal. It is not mandatory for publication in journals, but it is highly recommended.

Think of it as a mock peer review by experienced experts before the final peer review. Because of pre-peer review, there is a high chance that your manuscript will be accepted with minimal revisions.

What Happens During Pre-Peer Review?

• Editing and proofreading: In this first step, experts identify all types of errors and flaws in the manuscript with expert editing and proofreading.
• Research validation: the next step involves evaluating the quality of arguments, the evidence, originality, and significance of the findings. This step ensures that the study is significant and valuable for the field.
• Structure improvement: the next step involves checking the manuscript’s flow, organisation, and language accuracy.
• Reference formatting: then, the reviewers check for the proper reference formatting and whether citations are aligned with journal requirements.
• Checking plagiarism: reviewers use software like Turnitin to identify the percentage of similarity with existing literature. If the plagiarism is more than 20%, it is rejected immediately.

Who Conducts Pre-Peer Review?

Pre-peer review can be carried out by:

• Research supervisors
• Academic mentors
• Professional editors
• Research colleagues

Note: as pre-peer review is a step before final peer review, the reviewers are not selected by the editor.

Why is Pre-Peer Review Important?

It can be stressful and overwhelming for students to receive negative feedback on an academic paper they have invested a lot of effort and time in. If you want to avoid such a scenario, then go for a pre-peer review. As it will increase the chance of your research paper getting accepted and minimise its chance of rejection. Conducting a peer review before final submission has several benefits.

• Improves manuscript quality: pre-peer review allows the reviewers to identify the errors and flaws in any section, such as methodology, analysis, or arguments. As a result, you can make corrections in your paper sooner, which leads to a better quality of manuscript and ensures it is academically sound. So, it can lead to faster publication.
• Increases chances of journal acceptance: When you fix and correct the errors early, it maximises your chance of journal acceptance and minimises the chance of rejection. (Fixing gaps early will lead to a low chance of desk rejections)
• Reduces revision rounds: identifying and fixing mistakes at an earlier stage, which prevents the long revision cycles. You will not have to stress about waiting for submission times, receiving negative feedback, and submitting your paper to a new journal. Journals' peer review can take months, but pre-peer review will only take a few days.
• Provides constructive feedback: in pre peer review, the expert reviewers offer a detailed evaluation of your paper. Therefore, you must implement the suggestions made by them. Also, this process is iterative, which means that it involves multiple rounds of revisions with the same expert until the paper aligns with the standardised quality. Other than this, pre peer review process is less formal and less harsh as there is no risk of rejection.
• Ethical benefits: Another benefit is that reviewers ensure that your manuscript is original, leading to academic integrity before the paper enters the public record.

Peer Review Vs Pre-Peer Review (Key Differences)

Why UK Researchers Use Pre-Peer Review?

• High competition for journal publications: there are many researchers in the UK working hard for publication. Therefore, the competition is high, and the acceptance rate is low. When UK researchers use pre-peer reviews, it gives them an edge as they are able to correct their mistakes early. As a result, their chance of acceptance increases.
• REF (Research Excellence Framework) standards: Peer review is also crucial for REF standards. This is because it elevates manuscript quality, leading to high chances of acceptance in high-impact journals. Pre-peer review helps the researchers align their research paper with the high standards expected by REF panels.
• Institutional research expectations: pre-peer review is also used to meet institutional research expectations. It helps the author to enhance the quality, accuracy, and impact of research output before the final evaluation by academic journals.
• Need for polished manuscripts: pre-peer review is also used to ensure that the manuscript is polished and submission-ready. This increases the chances of acceptance and avoids desk rejection by journal editors. Think of it as a mock peer review.

What are the Advantages of Pre-Peer Review?

• Early error detection: pre-peer review helps to identify and fix all types of errors before the final evaluation and publication. As a result, it leads to better manuscript quality.
• Better structure and clarity: pre-peer review helps the authors to fix the errors of structure and clarity, elevating the overall quality of the manuscript.
• Stronger research argument: pre-peer review can help refine and improve the manuscript’s structure, ensuring that the core research arguments are convincing, clear, and compelling.
• Improved referencing and formatting: pre-peer review assesses and evaluates whether the manuscript's formatting and referencing align with the target journal’s specific guidelines and scope.
• Higher acceptance rate: when the author fixes the mistakes early, the manuscript is of high quality. It leads to higher chances of acceptance by the journal editor.

What are the Challenges in the Peer Review Process?

• Long review timelines: the major challenge of the peer review process is that it is time-consuming. It often takes months to complete, and as a result, the findings seem outdated before they are published.
• Conflicting reviewer feedback: In some cases, the reviewers have some personal or professional biases against the authors, topics, or methodology. Also, the feedback might be subjective.
• Rejection rates: The rejection rates are high. Even the robust manuscripts can be rejected due to a lack of novelty or if they do not align with the journal's requirements.
• Publication delays: Due to multiple revision rounds, there is a delay in publication.

What are Some Tips for Passing Peer Review Successfully?

If you want to save your time and don't want to revise your manuscript again and again, then you must follow some tips.

• Follow journal guidelines carefully: the first step is that you must strictly adhere to the journal's instructions for the authors. It may include guidelines regarding word count, formatting, and structure.
• Use clear academic writing to write a manuscript: the next tip is to use clear, logical and coherent academic writing.
• Ensure strong methodology: also, ensure scientific rigor by evaluating your methodology's strengths and limitations.
• Cite credible sources: you must also use peer reviewers and credible references to support your arguments. Make sure that you don't forget to add the citations and references. Otherwise, it can result in plagiarism.
• Revise thoroughly before submission: before your final submission, you must work hard to revise the entire research paper. If you don't have enough time, then you can also connect with professional editing services.

What is the Peer Review Process in UK Universities?

• PhD research: For the PhD research, you must draft original research. Also, the paper is evaluated internally before the external submission.
• Academic journal publication: peer reviewed publication is also important for career growth and academic reputation.
• Research evaluation systems: there is a framework, REF, which relies on peer-reviewed research papers to evaluate the reputation and performance of an institution.

Conclusion

Pre-peer review and peer review are both important stages in academic publishing. Pre-peer review is an informal process that leads to the improvement of the manuscript before submission, and peer review is the final evaluation process that decides whether your manuscript will be published. However, both these processes ensure that the academic research is accurate and of high quality. Moreover, in the academic context, not conducting pre-peer review can reduce your chances of success; therefore, you must not skip it and treat pre-peer review as the strongest advantage.

FAQs:

Q.1 What is the main difference between peer review and pre-peer review?

Ans: The main difference between pre-peer review and peer review is that pre-peer review occurs before the submission to improve the quality of the manuscript, whereas peer review occurs after the submission for publication. It determines whether the manuscript will be published.

Q.2 Is pre-peer review required for journal publication?

Ans: It is recommended but not a formal requirement for journal publication.

Q.3 How long does peer review take in UK journals?

Ans: Peer review in UK journals typically takes 3 to 6 months for the entire process

Q.4 Can supervisors perform pre-peer review?

Ans: Yes, supervisors can and often do perform pre-peer review.

Q.5 Does peer review guarantee publication?

Ans: No, peer review does not guarantee publication.

Q.6 Why is pre-peer review important?

Ans: Pre-peer review improves the manuscript quality, increases acceptance chances, and saves a lot of time.