Congratulations to the "Sentinels of Science"!
In keeping with this year’s theme of Peer Review Week - Recognition for Review - Publons introduced the Sentinels of Science awards “to honour the expert peer reviewers and editors who stand guard over research quality, and lead the charge for better, faster science.” The first recipients of this prize were announced on September 23, 2016. They were recognized for their duties performed between October 1, 2015, and September 17, 2016.
Jonas Ranstam, a medical physicist in Sweden, received the award for being the world’s most prolific peer reviewer, having reviewed 661 papers across 16 scientific fields, with an average of two reviews per day.
The award for the top contributing editor went to Jose Florencio Lapeña, a pediatric head and neck surgeon at the University of the Philippines who, as a journal editor and member of some editorial boards, had handled the maximum number of papers during the time period under question
Admittedly, the financial component of the award is modest, with Ranstam receiving $250, along with a $1,000 voucher to publish in an open access journal and Lapeña receiving $100 cash and a $200 credit with Wiley. However, the initiative intends to acknowledge the work of peer reviewers and editors more prominently.
The idea of recognizing the people behind the scenes was conceived by Publons, an organization that has, for some time, been trying to revive peer review and give more recognition to peer reviewers. Although peer reviewers play a crucial role in maintaining the quality of scientific publications, peer review is a service that has been provided pro bono and without any acknowledgement. Publons awards digital “badges” to reviewers for the “merit” points they earn through their reviews. With the Sentinels of Science awards, Publons has gone a step further by given reviewers accolades that may have long been overdue. Whether other journals and publishers follow suit and introduce other ways to reward peer reviewers for their service to the scientific community remains to be seen.
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Published on: Sep 29, 2016
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