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One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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Methodology

• What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples

What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples

Published on December 17, 2021 by Tegan George . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Peer review, sometimes referred to as refereeing , is the process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Using strict criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decides whether to accept each submission for publication.

Peer-reviewed articles are considered a highly credible source due to the stringent process they go through before publication.

There are various types of peer review. The main difference between them is to what extent the authors, reviewers, and editors know each other’s identities. The most common types are:

• Single-blind review
• Double-blind review
• Triple-blind review

Collaborative review

Open review.

Relatedly, peer assessment is a process where your peers provide you with feedback on something you’ve written, based on a set of criteria or benchmarks from an instructor. They then give constructive feedback, compliments, or guidance to help you improve your draft.

Table of contents

What is the purpose of peer review, types of peer review, the peer review process, providing feedback to your peers, peer review example, advantages of peer review, criticisms of peer review, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about peer reviews.

Many academic fields use peer review, largely to determine whether a manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review enhances the credibility of the manuscript. For this reason, academic journals are among the most credible sources you can refer to.

However, peer review is also common in non-academic settings. The United Nations, the European Union, and many individual nations use peer review to evaluate grant applications. It is also widely used in medical and health-related fields as a teaching or quality-of-care measure.

Peer assessment is often used in the classroom as a pedagogical tool. Both receiving feedback and providing it are thought to enhance the learning process, helping students think critically and collaboratively.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Depending on the journal, there are several types of peer review.

Single-blind peer review

The most common type of peer review is single-blind (or single anonymized) review . Here, the names of the reviewers are not known by the author.

While this gives the reviewers the ability to give feedback without the possibility of interference from the author, there has been substantial criticism of this method in the last few years. Many argue that single-blind reviewing can lead to poaching or intellectual theft or that anonymized comments cause reviewers to be too harsh.

Double-blind peer review

In double-blind (or double anonymized) review , both the author and the reviewers are anonymous.

Arguments for double-blind review highlight that this mitigates any risk of prejudice on the side of the reviewer, while protecting the nature of the process. In theory, it also leads to manuscripts being published on merit rather than on the reputation of the author.

Triple-blind peer review

While triple-blind (or triple anonymized) review —where the identities of the author, reviewers, and editors are all anonymized—does exist, it is difficult to carry out in practice.

Proponents of adopting triple-blind review for journal submissions argue that it minimizes potential conflicts of interest and biases. However, ensuring anonymity is logistically challenging, and current editing software is not always able to fully anonymize everyone involved in the process.

In collaborative review , authors and reviewers interact with each other directly throughout the process. However, the identity of the reviewer is not known to the author. This gives all parties the opportunity to resolve any inconsistencies or contradictions in real time, and provides them a rich forum for discussion. It can mitigate the need for multiple rounds of editing and minimize back-and-forth.

Collaborative review can be time- and resource-intensive for the journal, however. For these collaborations to occur, there has to be a set system in place, often a technological platform, with staff monitoring and fixing any bugs or glitches.

Lastly, in open review , all parties know each other’s identities throughout the process. Often, open review can also include feedback from a larger audience, such as an online forum, or reviewer feedback included as part of the final published product.

While many argue that greater transparency prevents plagiarism or unnecessary harshness, there is also concern about the quality of future scholarship if reviewers feel they have to censor their comments.

In general, the peer review process includes the following steps:

• First, the author submits the manuscript to the editor.
• Reject the manuscript and send it back to the author, or
• Send it onward to the selected peer reviewer(s)
• Next, the peer review process occurs. The reviewer provides feedback, addressing any major or minor issues with the manuscript, and gives their advice regarding what edits should be made.
• Lastly, the edited manuscript is sent back to the author. They input the edits and resubmit it to the editor for publication.

In an effort to be transparent, many journals are now disclosing who reviewed each article in the published product. There are also increasing opportunities for collaboration and feedback, with some journals allowing open communication between reviewers and authors.

It can seem daunting at first to conduct a peer review or peer assessment. If you’re not sure where to start, there are several best practices you can use.

Summarize the argument in your own words

Summarizing the main argument helps the author see how their argument is interpreted by readers, and gives you a jumping-off point for providing feedback. If you’re having trouble doing this, it’s a sign that the argument needs to be clearer, more concise, or worded differently.

If the author sees that you’ve interpreted their argument differently than they intended, they have an opportunity to address any misunderstandings when they get the manuscript back.

Separate your feedback into major and minor issues

It can be challenging to keep feedback organized. One strategy is to start out with any major issues and then flow into the more minor points. It’s often helpful to keep your feedback in a numbered list, so the author has concrete points to refer back to.

Major issues typically consist of any problems with the style, flow, or key points of the manuscript. Minor issues include spelling errors, citation errors, or other smaller, easy-to-apply feedback.

Tip: Try not to focus too much on the minor issues. If the manuscript has a lot of typos, consider making a note that the author should address spelling and grammar issues, rather than going through and fixing each one.

The best feedback you can provide is anything that helps them strengthen their argument or resolve major stylistic issues.

Give the type of feedback that you would like to receive

No one likes being criticized, and it can be difficult to give honest feedback without sounding overly harsh or critical. One strategy you can use here is the “compliment sandwich,” where you “sandwich” your constructive criticism between two compliments.

Be sure you are giving concrete, actionable feedback that will help the author submit a successful final draft. While you shouldn’t tell them exactly what they should do, your feedback should help them resolve any issues they may have overlooked.

As a rule of thumb, your feedback should be:

• Easy to understand
• Constructive

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

Below is a brief annotated research example. You can view examples of peer feedback by hovering over the highlighted sections.

Influence of phone use on sleep

Studies show that teens from the US are getting less sleep than they were a decade ago (Johnson, 2019) . On average, teens only slept for 6 hours a night in 2021, compared to 8 hours a night in 2011. Johnson mentions several potential causes, such as increased anxiety, changed diets, and increased phone use.

The current study focuses on the effect phone use before bedtime has on the number of hours of sleep teens are getting.

For this study, a sample of 300 teens was recruited using social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. The first week, all teens were allowed to use their phone the way they normally would, in order to obtain a baseline.

The sample was then divided into 3 groups:

• Group 1 was not allowed to use their phone before bedtime.
• Group 2 used their phone for 1 hour before bedtime.
• Group 3 used their phone for 3 hours before bedtime.

All participants were asked to go to sleep around 10 p.m. to control for variation in bedtime . In the morning, their Fitbit showed the number of hours they’d slept. They kept track of these numbers themselves for 1 week.

Two independent t tests were used in order to compare Group 1 and Group 2, and Group 1 and Group 3. The first t test showed no significant difference ( p > .05) between the number of hours for Group 1 ( M = 7.8, SD = 0.6) and Group 2 ( M = 7.0, SD = 0.8). The second t test showed a significant difference ( p < .01) between the average difference for Group 1 ( M = 7.8, SD = 0.6) and Group 3 ( M = 6.1, SD = 1.5).

This shows that teens sleep fewer hours a night if they use their phone for over an hour before bedtime, compared to teens who use their phone for 0 to 1 hours.

Peer review is an established and hallowed process in academia, dating back hundreds of years. It provides various fields of study with metrics, expectations, and guidance to ensure published work is consistent with predetermined standards.

• Protects the quality of published research

Peer review can stop obviously problematic, falsified, or otherwise untrustworthy research from being published. Any content that raises red flags for reviewers can be closely examined in the review stage, preventing plagiarized or duplicated research from being published.

• Gives you access to feedback from experts in your field

Peer review represents an excellent opportunity to get feedback from renowned experts in your field and to improve your writing through their feedback and guidance. Experts with knowledge about your subject matter can give you feedback on both style and content, and they may also suggest avenues for further research that you hadn’t yet considered.

• Helps you identify any weaknesses in your argument

Peer review acts as a first defense, helping you ensure your argument is clear and that there are no gaps, vague terms, or unanswered questions for readers who weren’t involved in the research process. This way, you’ll end up with a more robust, more cohesive article.

While peer review is a widely accepted metric for credibility, it’s not without its drawbacks.

• Reviewer bias

The more transparent double-blind system is not yet very common, which can lead to bias in reviewing. A common criticism is that an excellent paper by a new researcher may be declined, while an objectively lower-quality submission by an established researcher would be accepted.

• Delays in publication

The thoroughness of the peer review process can lead to significant delays in publishing time. Research that was current at the time of submission may not be as current by the time it’s published. There is also high risk of publication bias , where journals are more likely to publish studies with positive findings than studies with negative findings.

• Risk of human error

By its very nature, peer review carries a risk of human error. In particular, falsification often cannot be detected, given that reviewers would have to replicate entire experiments to ensure the validity of results.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Measures of central tendency
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles
• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Thematic analysis
• Discourse analysis
• Cohort study
• Ethnography

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Conformity bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Availability heuristic
• Attrition bias
• Social desirability bias

Peer review is a process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Utilizing rigorous criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decide whether to accept each submission for publication. For this reason, academic journals are often considered among the most credible sources you can use in a research project– provided that the journal itself is trustworthy and well-regarded.

In general, the peer review process follows the following steps: 

• Reject the manuscript and send it back to author, or 
• Send it onward to the selected peer reviewer(s) 
• Next, the peer review process occurs. The reviewer provides feedback, addressing any major or minor issues with the manuscript, and gives their advice regarding what edits should be made. 
• Lastly, the edited manuscript is sent back to the author. They input the edits, and resubmit it to the editor for publication.

Peer review can stop obviously problematic, falsified, or otherwise untrustworthy research from being published. It also represents an excellent opportunity to get feedback from renowned experts in your field. It acts as a first defense, helping you ensure your argument is clear and that there are no gaps, vague terms, or unanswered questions for readers who weren’t involved in the research process.

Peer-reviewed articles are considered a highly credible source due to this stringent process they go through before publication.

Many academic fields use peer review , largely to determine whether a manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review enhances the credibility of the published manuscript.

However, peer review is also common in non-academic settings. The United Nations, the European Union, and many individual nations use peer review to evaluate grant applications. It is also widely used in medical and health-related fields as a teaching or quality-of-care measure. 

A credible source should pass the CRAAP test  and follow these guidelines:

• The information should be up to date and current.
• The author and publication should be a trusted authority on the subject you are researching.
• The sources the author cited should be easy to find, clear, and unbiased.
• For a web source, the URL and layout should signify that it is trustworthy.

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How to Write a Peer Review

When you write a peer review for a manuscript, what should you include in your comments? What should you leave out? And how should the review be formatted?

This guide provides quick tips for writing and organizing your reviewer report.

Review Outline

Use an outline for your reviewer report so it’s easy for the editors and author to follow. This will also help you keep your comments organized.

Think about structuring your review like an inverted pyramid. Put the most important information at the top, followed by details and examples in the center, and any additional points at the very bottom.

Here’s how your outline might look:

1. Summary of the research and your overall impression

In your own words, summarize what the manuscript claims to report. This shows the editor how you interpreted the manuscript and will highlight any major differences in perspective between you and the other reviewers. Give an overview of the manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses. Think about this as your “take-home” message for the editors. End this section with your recommended course of action.

2. Discussion of specific areas for improvement

It’s helpful to divide this section into two parts: one for major issues and one for minor issues. Within each section, you can talk about the biggest issues first or go systematically figure-by-figure or claim-by-claim. Number each item so that your points are easy to follow (this will also make it easier for the authors to respond to each point). Refer to specific lines, pages, sections, or figure and table numbers so the authors (and editors) know exactly what you’re talking about.

Major vs. minor issues

What’s the difference between a major and minor issue? Major issues should consist of the essential points the authors need to address before the manuscript can proceed. Make sure you focus on what is  fundamental for the current study . In other words, it’s not helpful to recommend additional work that would be considered the “next step” in the study. Minor issues are still important but typically will not affect the overall conclusions of the manuscript. Here are some examples of what would might go in the “minor” category:

• Missing references (but depending on what is missing, this could also be a major issue)
• Technical clarifications (e.g., the authors should clarify how a reagent works)
• Data presentation (e.g., the authors should present p-values differently)
• Typos, spelling, grammar, and phrasing issues

3. Any other points

Confidential comments for the editors.

Some journals have a space for reviewers to enter confidential comments about the manuscript. Use this space to mention concerns about the submission that you’d want the editors to consider before sharing your feedback with the authors, such as concerns about ethical guidelines or language quality. Any serious issues should be raised directly and immediately with the journal as well.

This section is also where you will disclose any potentially competing interests, and mention whether you’re willing to look at a revised version of the manuscript.

Do not use this space to critique the manuscript, since comments entered here will not be passed along to the authors.  If you’re not sure what should go in the confidential comments, read the reviewer instructions or check with the journal first before submitting your review. If you are reviewing for a journal that does not offer a space for confidential comments, consider writing to the editorial office directly with your concerns.

Get this outline in a template

Giving Feedback

Giving feedback is hard. Giving effective feedback can be even more challenging. Remember that your ultimate goal is to discuss what the authors would need to do in order to qualify for publication. The point is not to nitpick every piece of the manuscript. Your focus should be on providing constructive and critical feedback that the authors can use to improve their study.

If you’ve ever had your own work reviewed, you already know that it’s not always easy to receive feedback. Follow the golden rule: Write the type of review you’d want to receive if you were the author. Even if you decide not to identify yourself in the review, you should write comments that you would be comfortable signing your name to.

In your comments, use phrases like “ the authors’ discussion of X” instead of “ your discussion of X .” This will depersonalize the feedback and keep the focus on the manuscript instead of the authors.

General guidelines for effective feedback

• Justify your recommendation with concrete evidence and specific examples.
• Be specific so the authors know what they need to do to improve.
• Be thorough. This might be the only time you read the manuscript.
• Be professional and respectful. The authors will be reading these comments too.
• Remember to say what you liked about the manuscript!

Don’t

• Recommend additional experiments or  unnecessary elements that are out of scope for the study or for the journal criteria.
• Tell the authors exactly how to revise their manuscript—you don’t need to do their work for them.
• Use the review to promote your own research or hypotheses.
• Focus on typos and grammar. If the manuscript needs significant editing for language and writing quality, just mention this in your comments.
• Submit your review without proofreading it and checking everything one more time.

Before and After: Sample Reviewer Comments

Keeping in mind the guidelines above, how do you put your thoughts into words? Here are some sample “before” and “after” reviewer comments

✗ Before

“The authors appear to have no idea what they are talking about. I don’t think they have read any of the literature on this topic.”

✓ After

“The study fails to address how the findings relate to previous research in this area. The authors should rewrite their Introduction and Discussion to reference the related literature, especially recently published work such as Darwin et al.”

“The writing is so bad, it is practically unreadable. I could barely bring myself to finish it.”

“While the study appears to be sound, the language is unclear, making it difficult to follow. I advise the authors work with a writing coach or copyeditor to improve the flow and readability of the text.”

“It’s obvious that this type of experiment should have been included. I have no idea why the authors didn’t use it. This is a big mistake.”

“The authors are off to a good start, however, this study requires additional experiments, particularly [type of experiment]. Alternatively, the authors should include more information that clarifies and justifies their choice of methods.”

Suggested Language for Tricky Situations

You might find yourself in a situation where you’re not sure how to explain the problem or provide feedback in a constructive and respectful way. Here is some suggested language for common issues you might experience.

What you think : The manuscript is fatally flawed. What you could say: “The study does not appear to be sound” or “the authors have missed something crucial”.

What you think : You don’t completely understand the manuscript. What you could say : “The authors should clarify the following sections to avoid confusion…”

What you think : The technical details don’t make sense. What you could say : “The technical details should be expanded and clarified to ensure that readers understand exactly what the researchers studied.”

What you think: The writing is terrible. What you could say : “The authors should revise the language to improve readability.”

What you think : The authors have over-interpreted the findings. What you could say : “The authors aim to demonstrate [XYZ], however, the data does not fully support this conclusion. Specifically…”

What does a good review look like?

Check out the peer review examples at F1000 Research to see how other reviewers write up their reports and give constructive feedback to authors.

Time to Submit the Review!

Be sure you turn in your report on time. Need an extension? Tell the journal so that they know what to expect. If you need a lot of extra time, the journal might need to contact other reviewers or notify the author about the delay.

Tip: Building a relationship with an editor

You’ll be more likely to be asked to review again if you provide high-quality feedback and if you turn in the review on time. Especially if it’s your first review for a journal, it’s important to show that you are reliable. Prove yourself once and you’ll get asked to review again!

• Getting started as a reviewer
• Responding to an invitation
• Reading a manuscript
• Writing a peer review

The contents of the Peer Review Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

The contents of the Writing Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

There’s a lot to consider when deciding where to submit your work. Learn how to choose a journal that will help your study reach its audience, while reflecting your values as a researcher…

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Peer Review in Scientific Publications: Benefits, Critiques, & A Survival Guide

Jacalyn kelly.

1 Clinical Biochemistry, Department of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tara Sadeghieh

Khosrow adeli.

2 Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

3 Chair, Communications and Publications Division (CPD), International Federation for Sick Clinical Chemistry (IFCC), Milan, Italy

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding publication of this article.

Peer review has been defined as a process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field. It functions to encourage authors to meet the accepted high standards of their discipline and to control the dissemination of research data to ensure that unwarranted claims, unacceptable interpretations or personal views are not published without prior expert review. Despite its wide-spread use by most journals, the peer review process has also been widely criticised due to the slowness of the process to publish new findings and due to perceived bias by the editors and/or reviewers. Within the scientific community, peer review has become an essential component of the academic writing process. It helps ensure that papers published in scientific journals answer meaningful research questions and draw accurate conclusions based on professionally executed experimentation. Submission of low quality manuscripts has become increasingly prevalent, and peer review acts as a filter to prevent this work from reaching the scientific community. The major advantage of a peer review process is that peer-reviewed articles provide a trusted form of scientific communication. Since scientific knowledge is cumulative and builds on itself, this trust is particularly important. Despite the positive impacts of peer review, critics argue that the peer review process stifles innovation in experimentation, and acts as a poor screen against plagiarism. Despite its downfalls, there has not yet been a foolproof system developed to take the place of peer review, however, researchers have been looking into electronic means of improving the peer review process. Unfortunately, the recent explosion in online only/electronic journals has led to mass publication of a large number of scientific articles with little or no peer review. This poses significant risk to advances in scientific knowledge and its future potential. The current article summarizes the peer review process, highlights the pros and cons associated with different types of peer review, and describes new methods for improving peer review.

WHAT IS PEER REVIEW AND WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?

Peer Review is defined as “a process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field” ( 1 ). Peer review is intended to serve two primary purposes. Firstly, it acts as a filter to ensure that only high quality research is published, especially in reputable journals, by determining the validity, significance and originality of the study. Secondly, peer review is intended to improve the quality of manuscripts that are deemed suitable for publication. Peer reviewers provide suggestions to authors on how to improve the quality of their manuscripts, and also identify any errors that need correcting before publication.

HISTORY OF PEER REVIEW

The concept of peer review was developed long before the scholarly journal. In fact, the peer review process is thought to have been used as a method of evaluating written work since ancient Greece ( 2 ). The peer review process was first described by a physician named Ishaq bin Ali al-Rahwi of Syria, who lived from 854-931 CE, in his book Ethics of the Physician ( 2 ). There, he stated that physicians must take notes describing the state of their patients’ medical conditions upon each visit. Following treatment, the notes were scrutinized by a local medical council to determine whether the physician had met the required standards of medical care. If the medical council deemed that the appropriate standards were not met, the physician in question could receive a lawsuit from the maltreated patient ( 2 ).

The invention of the printing press in 1453 allowed written documents to be distributed to the general public ( 3 ). At this time, it became more important to regulate the quality of the written material that became publicly available, and editing by peers increased in prevalence. In 1620, Francis Bacon wrote the work Novum Organum, where he described what eventually became known as the first universal method for generating and assessing new science ( 3 ). His work was instrumental in shaping the Scientific Method ( 3 ). In 1665, the French Journal des sçavans and the English Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society were the first scientific journals to systematically publish research results ( 4 ). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society is thought to be the first journal to formalize the peer review process in 1665 ( 5 ), however, it is important to note that peer review was initially introduced to help editors decide which manuscripts to publish in their journals, and at that time it did not serve to ensure the validity of the research ( 6 ). It did not take long for the peer review process to evolve, and shortly thereafter papers were distributed to reviewers with the intent of authenticating the integrity of the research study before publication. The Royal Society of Edinburgh adhered to the following peer review process, published in their Medical Essays and Observations in 1731: “Memoirs sent by correspondence are distributed according to the subject matter to those members who are most versed in these matters. The report of their identity is not known to the author.” ( 7 ). The Royal Society of London adopted this review procedure in 1752 and developed the “Committee on Papers” to review manuscripts before they were published in Philosophical Transactions ( 6 ).

Peer review in the systematized and institutionalized form has developed immensely since the Second World War, at least partly due to the large increase in scientific research during this period ( 7 ). It is now used not only to ensure that a scientific manuscript is experimentally and ethically sound, but also to determine which papers sufficiently meet the journal’s standards of quality and originality before publication. Peer review is now standard practice by most credible scientific journals, and is an essential part of determining the credibility and quality of work submitted.

IMPACT OF THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS

Peer review has become the foundation of the scholarly publication system because it effectively subjects an author’s work to the scrutiny of other experts in the field. Thus, it encourages authors to strive to produce high quality research that will advance the field. Peer review also supports and maintains integrity and authenticity in the advancement of science. A scientific hypothesis or statement is generally not accepted by the academic community unless it has been published in a peer-reviewed journal ( 8 ). The Institute for Scientific Information ( ISI ) only considers journals that are peer-reviewed as candidates to receive Impact Factors. Peer review is a well-established process which has been a formal part of scientific communication for over 300 years.

OVERVIEW OF THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS

The peer review process begins when a scientist completes a research study and writes a manuscript that describes the purpose, experimental design, results, and conclusions of the study. The scientist then submits this paper to a suitable journal that specializes in a relevant research field, a step referred to as pre-submission. The editors of the journal will review the paper to ensure that the subject matter is in line with that of the journal, and that it fits with the editorial platform. Very few papers pass this initial evaluation. If the journal editors feel the paper sufficiently meets these requirements and is written by a credible source, they will send the paper to accomplished researchers in the field for a formal peer review. Peer reviewers are also known as referees (this process is summarized in Figure 1 ). The role of the editor is to select the most appropriate manuscripts for the journal, and to implement and monitor the peer review process. Editors must ensure that peer reviews are conducted fairly, and in an effective and timely manner. They must also ensure that there are no conflicts of interest involved in the peer review process.

Overview of the review process

When a reviewer is provided with a paper, he or she reads it carefully and scrutinizes it to evaluate the validity of the science, the quality of the experimental design, and the appropriateness of the methods used. The reviewer also assesses the significance of the research, and judges whether the work will contribute to advancement in the field by evaluating the importance of the findings, and determining the originality of the research. Additionally, reviewers identify any scientific errors and references that are missing or incorrect. Peer reviewers give recommendations to the editor regarding whether the paper should be accepted, rejected, or improved before publication in the journal. The editor will mediate author-referee discussion in order to clarify the priority of certain referee requests, suggest areas that can be strengthened, and overrule reviewer recommendations that are beyond the study’s scope ( 9 ). If the paper is accepted, as per suggestion by the peer reviewer, the paper goes into the production stage, where it is tweaked and formatted by the editors, and finally published in the scientific journal. An overview of the review process is presented in Figure 1 .

WHO CONDUCTS REVIEWS?

Peer reviews are conducted by scientific experts with specialized knowledge on the content of the manuscript, as well as by scientists with a more general knowledge base. Peer reviewers can be anyone who has competence and expertise in the subject areas that the journal covers. Reviewers can range from young and up-and-coming researchers to old masters in the field. Often, the young reviewers are the most responsive and deliver the best quality reviews, though this is not always the case. On average, a reviewer will conduct approximately eight reviews per year, according to a study on peer review by the Publishing Research Consortium (PRC) ( 7 ). Journals will often have a pool of reviewers with diverse backgrounds to allow for many different perspectives. They will also keep a rather large reviewer bank, so that reviewers do not get burnt out, overwhelmed or time constrained from reviewing multiple articles simultaneously.

WHY DO REVIEWERS REVIEW?

Referees are typically not paid to conduct peer reviews and the process takes considerable effort, so the question is raised as to what incentive referees have to review at all. Some feel an academic duty to perform reviews, and are of the mentality that if their peers are expected to review their papers, then they should review the work of their peers as well. Reviewers may also have personal contacts with editors, and may want to assist as much as possible. Others review to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in their field, and reading new scientific papers is an effective way to do so. Some scientists use peer review as an opportunity to advance their own research as it stimulates new ideas and allows them to read about new experimental techniques. Other reviewers are keen on building associations with prestigious journals and editors and becoming part of their community, as sometimes reviewers who show dedication to the journal are later hired as editors. Some scientists see peer review as a chance to become aware of the latest research before their peers, and thus be first to develop new insights from the material. Finally, in terms of career development, peer reviewing can be desirable as it is often noted on one’s resume or CV. Many institutions consider a researcher’s involvement in peer review when assessing their performance for promotions ( 11 ). Peer reviewing can also be an effective way for a scientist to show their superiors that they are committed to their scientific field ( 5 ).

ARE REVIEWERS KEEN TO REVIEW?

A 2009 international survey of 4000 peer reviewers conducted by the charity Sense About Science at the British Science Festival at the University of Surrey, found that 90% of reviewers were keen to peer review ( 12 ). One third of respondents to the survey said they were happy to review up to five papers per year, and an additional one third of respondents were happy to review up to ten.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO REVIEW ONE PAPER?

On average, it takes approximately six hours to review one paper ( 12 ), however, this number may vary greatly depending on the content of the paper and the nature of the peer reviewer. One in every 100 participants in the “Sense About Science” survey claims to have taken more than 100 hours to review their last paper ( 12 ).

HOW TO DETERMINE IF A JOURNAL IS PEER REVIEWED

Ulrichsweb is a directory that provides information on over 300,000 periodicals, including information regarding which journals are peer reviewed ( 13 ). After logging into the system using an institutional login (eg. from the University of Toronto), search terms, journal titles or ISSN numbers can be entered into the search bar. The database provides the title, publisher, and country of origin of the journal, and indicates whether the journal is still actively publishing. The black book symbol (labelled ‘refereed’) reveals that the journal is peer reviewed.

THE EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR PEER REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

As previously mentioned, when a reviewer receives a scientific manuscript, he/she will first determine if the subject matter is well suited for the content of the journal. The reviewer will then consider whether the research question is important and original, a process which may be aided by a literature scan of review articles.

Scientific papers submitted for peer review usually follow a specific structure that begins with the title, followed by the abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, and references. The title must be descriptive and include the concept and organism investigated, and potentially the variable manipulated and the systems used in the study. The peer reviewer evaluates if the title is descriptive enough, and ensures that it is clear and concise. A study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) published by the Oxford University Press in 2006 indicated that the title of a manuscript plays a significant role in determining reader interest, as 72% of respondents said they could usually judge whether an article will be of interest to them based on the title and the author, while 13% of respondents claimed to always be able to do so ( 14 ).

The abstract is a summary of the paper, which briefly mentions the background or purpose, methods, key results, and major conclusions of the study. The peer reviewer assesses whether the abstract is sufficiently informative and if the content of the abstract is consistent with the rest of the paper. The NAR study indicated that 40% of respondents could determine whether an article would be of interest to them based on the abstract alone 60-80% of the time, while 32% could judge an article based on the abstract 80-100% of the time ( 14 ). This demonstrates that the abstract alone is often used to assess the value of an article.

The introduction of a scientific paper presents the research question in the context of what is already known about the topic, in order to identify why the question being studied is of interest to the scientific community, and what gap in knowledge the study aims to fill ( 15 ). The introduction identifies the study’s purpose and scope, briefly describes the general methods of investigation, and outlines the hypothesis and predictions ( 15 ). The peer reviewer determines whether the introduction provides sufficient background information on the research topic, and ensures that the research question and hypothesis are clearly identifiable.

The methods section describes the experimental procedures, and explains why each experiment was conducted. The methods section also includes the equipment and reagents used in the investigation. The methods section should be detailed enough that it can be used it to repeat the experiment ( 15 ). Methods are written in the past tense and in the active voice. The peer reviewer assesses whether the appropriate methods were used to answer the research question, and if they were written with sufficient detail. If information is missing from the methods section, it is the peer reviewer’s job to identify what details need to be added.

The results section is where the outcomes of the experiment and trends in the data are explained without judgement, bias or interpretation ( 15 ). This section can include statistical tests performed on the data, as well as figures and tables in addition to the text. The peer reviewer ensures that the results are described with sufficient detail, and determines their credibility. Reviewers also confirm that the text is consistent with the information presented in tables and figures, and that all figures and tables included are important and relevant ( 15 ). The peer reviewer will also make sure that table and figure captions are appropriate both contextually and in length, and that tables and figures present the data accurately.

The discussion section is where the data is analyzed. Here, the results are interpreted and related to past studies ( 15 ). The discussion describes the meaning and significance of the results in terms of the research question and hypothesis, and states whether the hypothesis was supported or rejected. This section may also provide possible explanations for unusual results and suggestions for future research ( 15 ). The discussion should end with a conclusions section that summarizes the major findings of the investigation. The peer reviewer determines whether the discussion is clear and focused, and whether the conclusions are an appropriate interpretation of the results. Reviewers also ensure that the discussion addresses the limitations of the study, any anomalies in the results, the relationship of the study to previous research, and the theoretical implications and practical applications of the study.

The references are found at the end of the paper, and list all of the information sources cited in the text to describe the background, methods, and/or interpret results. Depending on the citation method used, the references are listed in alphabetical order according to author last name, or numbered according to the order in which they appear in the paper. The peer reviewer ensures that references are used appropriately, cited accurately, formatted correctly, and that none are missing.

Finally, the peer reviewer determines whether the paper is clearly written and if the content seems logical. After thoroughly reading through the entire manuscript, they determine whether it meets the journal’s standards for publication,

and whether it falls within the top 25% of papers in its field ( 16 ) to determine priority for publication. An overview of what a peer reviewer looks for when evaluating a manuscript, in order of importance, is presented in Figure 2 .

How a peer review evaluates a manuscript

To increase the chance of success in the peer review process, the author must ensure that the paper fully complies with the journal guidelines before submission. The author must also be open to criticism and suggested revisions, and learn from mistakes made in previous submissions.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEER REVIEW

The peer review process is generally conducted in one of three ways: open review, single-blind review, or double-blind review. In an open review, both the author of the paper and the peer reviewer know one another’s identity. Alternatively, in single-blind review, the reviewer’s identity is kept private, but the author’s identity is revealed to the reviewer. In double-blind review, the identities of both the reviewer and author are kept anonymous. Open peer review is advantageous in that it prevents the reviewer from leaving malicious comments, being careless, or procrastinating completion of the review ( 2 ). It encourages reviewers to be open and honest without being disrespectful. Open reviewing also discourages plagiarism amongst authors ( 2 ). On the other hand, open peer review can also prevent reviewers from being honest for fear of developing bad rapport with the author. The reviewer may withhold or tone down their criticisms in order to be polite ( 2 ). This is especially true when younger reviewers are given a more esteemed author’s work, in which case the reviewer may be hesitant to provide criticism for fear that it will damper their relationship with a superior ( 2 ). According to the Sense About Science survey, editors find that completely open reviewing decreases the number of people willing to participate, and leads to reviews of little value ( 12 ). In the aforementioned study by the PRC, only 23% of authors surveyed had experience with open peer review ( 7 ).

Single-blind peer review is by far the most common. In the PRC study, 85% of authors surveyed had experience with single-blind peer review ( 7 ). This method is advantageous as the reviewer is more likely to provide honest feedback when their identity is concealed ( 2 ). This allows the reviewer to make independent decisions without the influence of the author ( 2 ). The main disadvantage of reviewer anonymity, however, is that reviewers who receive manuscripts on subjects similar to their own research may be tempted to delay completing the review in order to publish their own data first ( 2 ).

Double-blind peer review is advantageous as it prevents the reviewer from being biased against the author based on their country of origin or previous work ( 2 ). This allows the paper to be judged based on the quality of the content, rather than the reputation of the author. The Sense About Science survey indicates that 76% of researchers think double-blind peer review is a good idea ( 12 ), and the PRC survey indicates that 45% of authors have had experience with double-blind peer review ( 7 ). The disadvantage of double-blind peer review is that, especially in niche areas of research, it can sometimes be easy for the reviewer to determine the identity of the author based on writing style, subject matter or self-citation, and thus, impart bias ( 2 ).

Masking the author’s identity from peer reviewers, as is the case in double-blind review, is generally thought to minimize bias and maintain review quality. A study by Justice et al. in 1998 investigated whether masking author identity affected the quality of the review ( 17 ). One hundred and eighteen manuscripts were randomized; 26 were peer reviewed as normal, and 92 were moved into the ‘intervention’ arm, where editor quality assessments were completed for 77 manuscripts and author quality assessments were completed for 40 manuscripts ( 17 ). There was no perceived difference in quality between the masked and unmasked reviews. Additionally, the masking itself was often unsuccessful, especially with well-known authors ( 17 ). However, a previous study conducted by McNutt et al. had different results ( 18 ). In this case, blinding was successful 73% of the time, and they found that when author identity was masked, the quality of review was slightly higher ( 18 ). Although Justice et al. argued that this difference was too small to be consequential, their study targeted only biomedical journals, and the results cannot be generalized to journals of a different subject matter ( 17 ). Additionally, there were problems masking the identities of well-known authors, introducing a flaw in the methods. Regardless, Justice et al. concluded that masking author identity from reviewers may not improve review quality ( 17 ).

In addition to open, single-blind and double-blind peer review, there are two experimental forms of peer review. In some cases, following publication, papers may be subjected to post-publication peer review. As many papers are now published online, the scientific community has the opportunity to comment on these papers, engage in online discussions and post a formal review. For example, online publishers PLOS and BioMed Central have enabled scientists to post comments on published papers if they are registered users of the site ( 10 ). Philica is another journal launched with this experimental form of peer review. Only 8% of authors surveyed in the PRC study had experience with post-publication review ( 7 ). Another experimental form of peer review called Dynamic Peer Review has also emerged. Dynamic peer review is conducted on websites such as Naboj, which allow scientists to conduct peer reviews on articles in the preprint media ( 19 ). The peer review is conducted on repositories and is a continuous process, which allows the public to see both the article and the reviews as the article is being developed ( 19 ). Dynamic peer review helps prevent plagiarism as the scientific community will already be familiar with the work before the peer reviewed version appears in print ( 19 ). Dynamic review also reduces the time lag between manuscript submission and publishing. An example of a preprint server is the ‘arXiv’ developed by Paul Ginsparg in 1991, which is used primarily by physicists ( 19 ). These alternative forms of peer review are still un-established and experimental. Traditional peer review is time-tested and still highly utilized. All methods of peer review have their advantages and deficiencies, and all are prone to error.

PEER REVIEW OF OPEN ACCESS JOURNALS

Open access (OA) journals are becoming increasingly popular as they allow the potential for widespread distribution of publications in a timely manner ( 20 ). Nevertheless, there can be issues regarding the peer review process of open access journals. In a study published in Science in 2013, John Bohannon submitted 304 slightly different versions of a fictional scientific paper (written by a fake author, working out of a non-existent institution) to a selected group of OA journals. This study was performed in order to determine whether papers submitted to OA journals are properly reviewed before publication in comparison to subscription-based journals. The journals in this study were selected from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Biall’s List, a list of journals which are potentially predatory, and all required a fee for publishing ( 21 ). Of the 304 journals, 157 accepted a fake paper, suggesting that acceptance was based on financial interest rather than the quality of article itself, while 98 journals promptly rejected the fakes ( 21 ). Although this study highlights useful information on the problems associated with lower quality publishers that do not have an effective peer review system in place, the article also generalizes the study results to all OA journals, which can be detrimental to the general perception of OA journals. There were two limitations of the study that made it impossible to accurately determine the relationship between peer review and OA journals: 1) there was no control group (subscription-based journals), and 2) the fake papers were sent to a non-randomized selection of journals, resulting in bias.

JOURNAL ACCEPTANCE RATES

Based on a recent survey, the average acceptance rate for papers submitted to scientific journals is about 50% ( 7 ). Twenty percent of the submitted manuscripts that are not accepted are rejected prior to review, and 30% are rejected following review ( 7 ). Of the 50% accepted, 41% are accepted with the condition of revision, while only 9% are accepted without the request for revision ( 7 ).

SATISFACTION WITH THE PEER REVIEW SYSTEM

Based on a recent survey by the PRC, 64% of academics are satisfied with the current system of peer review, and only 12% claimed to be ‘dissatisfied’ ( 7 ). The large majority, 85%, agreed with the statement that ‘scientific communication is greatly helped by peer review’ ( 7 ). There was a similarly high level of support (83%) for the idea that peer review ‘provides control in scientific communication’ ( 7 ).

HOW TO PEER REVIEW EFFECTIVELY

The following are ten tips on how to be an effective peer reviewer as indicated by Brian Lucey, an expert on the subject ( 22 ):

1) Be professional

Peer review is a mutual responsibility among fellow scientists, and scientists are expected, as part of the academic community, to take part in peer review. If one is to expect others to review their work, they should commit to reviewing the work of others as well, and put effort into it.

2) Be pleasant

If the paper is of low quality, suggest that it be rejected, but do not leave ad hominem comments. There is no benefit to being ruthless.

3) Read the invite

When emailing a scientist to ask them to conduct a peer review, the majority of journals will provide a link to either accept or reject. Do not respond to the email, respond to the link.

4) Be helpful

Suggest how the authors can overcome the shortcomings in their paper. A review should guide the author on what is good and what needs work from the reviewer’s perspective.

5) Be scientific

The peer reviewer plays the role of a scientific peer, not an editor for proofreading or decision-making. Don’t fill a review with comments on editorial and typographic issues. Instead, focus on adding value with scientific knowledge and commenting on the credibility of the research conducted and conclusions drawn. If the paper has a lot of typographical errors, suggest that it be professionally proof edited as part of the review.

6) Be timely

Stick to the timeline given when conducting a peer review. Editors track who is reviewing what and when and will know if someone is late on completing a review. It is important to be timely both out of respect for the journal and the author, as well as to not develop a reputation of being late for review deadlines.

7) Be realistic

The peer reviewer must be realistic about the work presented, the changes they suggest and their role. Peer reviewers may set the bar too high for the paper they are editing by proposing changes that are too ambitious and editors must override them.

8) Be empathetic

Ensure that the review is scientific, helpful and courteous. Be sensitive and respectful with word choice and tone in a review.

Remember that both specialists and generalists can provide valuable insight when peer reviewing. Editors will try to get both specialised and general reviewers for any particular paper to allow for different perspectives. If someone is asked to review, the editor has determined they have a valid and useful role to play, even if the paper is not in their area of expertise.

10) Be organised

A review requires structure and logical flow. A reviewer should proofread their review before submitting it for structural, grammatical and spelling errors as well as for clarity. Most publishers provide short guides on structuring a peer review on their website. Begin with an overview of the proposed improvements; then provide feedback on the paper structure, the quality of data sources and methods of investigation used, the logical flow of argument, and the validity of conclusions drawn. Then provide feedback on style, voice and lexical concerns, with suggestions on how to improve.

In addition, the American Physiology Society (APS) recommends in its Peer Review 101 Handout that peer reviewers should put themselves in both the editor’s and author’s shoes to ensure that they provide what both the editor and the author need and expect ( 11 ). To please the editor, the reviewer should ensure that the peer review is completed on time, and that it provides clear explanations to back up recommendations. To be helpful to the author, the reviewer must ensure that their feedback is constructive. It is suggested that the reviewer take time to think about the paper; they should read it once, wait at least a day, and then re-read it before writing the review ( 11 ). The APS also suggests that Graduate students and researchers pay attention to how peer reviewers edit their work, as well as to what edits they find helpful, in order to learn how to peer review effectively ( 11 ). Additionally, it is suggested that Graduate students practice reviewing by editing their peers’ papers and asking a faculty member for feedback on their efforts. It is recommended that young scientists offer to peer review as often as possible in order to become skilled at the process ( 11 ). The majority of students, fellows and trainees do not get formal training in peer review, but rather learn by observing their mentors. According to the APS, one acquires experience through networking and referrals, and should therefore try to strengthen relationships with journal editors by offering to review manuscripts ( 11 ). The APS also suggests that experienced reviewers provide constructive feedback to students and junior colleagues on their peer review efforts, and encourages them to peer review to demonstrate the importance of this process in improving science ( 11 ).

The peer reviewer should only comment on areas of the manuscript that they are knowledgeable about ( 23 ). If there is any section of the manuscript they feel they are not qualified to review, they should mention this in their comments and not provide further feedback on that section. The peer reviewer is not permitted to share any part of the manuscript with a colleague (even if they may be more knowledgeable in the subject matter) without first obtaining permission from the editor ( 23 ). If a peer reviewer comes across something they are unsure of in the paper, they can consult the literature to try and gain insight. It is important for scientists to remember that if a paper can be improved by the expertise of one of their colleagues, the journal must be informed of the colleague’s help, and approval must be obtained for their colleague to read the protected document. Additionally, the colleague must be identified in the confidential comments to the editor, in order to ensure that he/she is appropriately credited for any contributions ( 23 ). It is the job of the reviewer to make sure that the colleague assisting is aware of the confidentiality of the peer review process ( 23 ). Once the review is complete, the manuscript must be destroyed and cannot be saved electronically by the reviewers ( 23 ).

COMMON ERRORS IN SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

When performing a peer review, there are some common scientific errors to look out for. Most of these errors are violations of logic and common sense: these may include contradicting statements, unwarranted conclusions, suggestion of causation when there is only support for correlation, inappropriate extrapolation, circular reasoning, or pursuit of a trivial question ( 24 ). It is also common for authors to suggest that two variables are different because the effects of one variable are statistically significant while the effects of the other variable are not, rather than directly comparing the two variables ( 24 ). Authors sometimes oversee a confounding variable and do not control for it, or forget to include important details on how their experiments were controlled or the physical state of the organisms studied ( 24 ). Another common fault is the author’s failure to define terms or use words with precision, as these practices can mislead readers ( 24 ). Jargon and/or misused terms can be a serious problem in papers. Inaccurate statements about specific citations are also a common occurrence ( 24 ). Additionally, many studies produce knowledge that can be applied to areas of science outside the scope of the original study, therefore it is better for reviewers to look at the novelty of the idea, conclusions, data, and methodology, rather than scrutinize whether or not the paper answered the specific question at hand ( 24 ). Although it is important to recognize these points, when performing a review it is generally better practice for the peer reviewer to not focus on a checklist of things that could be wrong, but rather carefully identify the problems specific to each paper and continuously ask themselves if anything is missing ( 24 ). An extremely detailed description of how to conduct peer review effectively is presented in the paper How I Review an Original Scientific Article written by Frederic G. Hoppin, Jr. It can be accessed through the American Physiological Society website under the Peer Review Resources section.

CRITICISM OF PEER REVIEW

A major criticism of peer review is that there is little evidence that the process actually works, that it is actually an effective screen for good quality scientific work, and that it actually improves the quality of scientific literature. As a 2002 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, ‘Editorial peer review, although widely used, is largely untested and its effects are uncertain’ ( 25 ). Critics also argue that peer review is not effective at detecting errors. Highlighting this point, an experiment by Godlee et al. published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) inserted eight deliberate errors into a paper that was nearly ready for publication, and then sent the paper to 420 potential reviewers ( 7 ). Of the 420 reviewers that received the paper, 221 (53%) responded, the average number of errors spotted by reviewers was two, no reviewer spotted more than five errors, and 35 reviewers (16%) did not spot any.

Another criticism of peer review is that the process is not conducted thoroughly by scientific conferences with the goal of obtaining large numbers of submitted papers. Such conferences often accept any paper sent in, regardless of its credibility or the prevalence of errors, because the more papers they accept, the more money they can make from author registration fees ( 26 ). This misconduct was exposed in 2014 by three MIT graduate students by the names of Jeremy Stribling, Dan Aguayo and Maxwell Krohn, who developed a simple computer program called SCIgen that generates nonsense papers and presents them as scientific papers ( 26 ). Subsequently, a nonsense SCIgen paper submitted to a conference was promptly accepted. Nature recently reported that French researcher Cyril Labbé discovered that sixteen SCIgen nonsense papers had been used by the German academic publisher Springer ( 26 ). Over 100 nonsense papers generated by SCIgen were published by the US Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) ( 26 ). Both organisations have been working to remove the papers. Labbé developed a program to detect SCIgen papers and has made it freely available to ensure publishers and conference organizers do not accept nonsense work in the future. It is available at this link: http://scigendetect.on.imag.fr/main.php ( 26 ).

Additionally, peer review is often criticized for being unable to accurately detect plagiarism. However, many believe that detecting plagiarism cannot practically be included as a component of peer review. As explained by Alice Tuff, development manager at Sense About Science, ‘The vast majority of authors and reviewers think peer review should detect plagiarism (81%) but only a minority (38%) think it is capable. The academic time involved in detecting plagiarism through peer review would cause the system to grind to a halt’ ( 27 ). Publishing house Elsevier began developing electronic plagiarism tools with the help of journal editors in 2009 to help improve this issue ( 27 ).

It has also been argued that peer review has lowered research quality by limiting creativity amongst researchers. Proponents of this view claim that peer review has repressed scientists from pursuing innovative research ideas and bold research questions that have the potential to make major advances and paradigm shifts in the field, as they believe that this work will likely be rejected by their peers upon review ( 28 ). Indeed, in some cases peer review may result in rejection of innovative research, as some studies may not seem particularly strong initially, yet may be capable of yielding very interesting and useful developments when examined under different circumstances, or in the light of new information ( 28 ). Scientists that do not believe in peer review argue that the process stifles the development of ingenious ideas, and thus the release of fresh knowledge and new developments into the scientific community.

Another issue that peer review is criticized for, is that there are a limited number of people that are competent to conduct peer review compared to the vast number of papers that need reviewing. An enormous number of papers published (1.3 million papers in 23,750 journals in 2006), but the number of competent peer reviewers available could not have reviewed them all ( 29 ). Thus, people who lack the required expertise to analyze the quality of a research paper are conducting reviews, and weak papers are being accepted as a result. It is now possible to publish any paper in an obscure journal that claims to be peer-reviewed, though the paper or journal itself could be substandard ( 29 ). On a similar note, the US National Library of Medicine indexes 39 journals that specialize in alternative medicine, and though they all identify themselves as “peer-reviewed”, they rarely publish any high quality research ( 29 ). This highlights the fact that peer review of more controversial or specialized work is typically performed by people who are interested and hold similar views or opinions as the author, which can cause bias in their review. For instance, a paper on homeopathy is likely to be reviewed by fellow practicing homeopaths, and thus is likely to be accepted as credible, though other scientists may find the paper to be nonsense ( 29 ). In some cases, papers are initially published, but their credibility is challenged at a later date and they are subsequently retracted. Retraction Watch is a website dedicated to revealing papers that have been retracted after publishing, potentially due to improper peer review ( 30 ).

Additionally, despite its many positive outcomes, peer review is also criticized for being a delay to the dissemination of new knowledge into the scientific community, and as an unpaid-activity that takes scientists’ time away from activities that they would otherwise prioritize, such as research and teaching, for which they are paid ( 31 ). As described by Eva Amsen, Outreach Director for F1000Research, peer review was originally developed as a means of helping editors choose which papers to publish when journals had to limit the number of papers they could print in one issue ( 32 ). However, nowadays most journals are available online, either exclusively or in addition to print, and many journals have very limited printing runs ( 32 ). Since there are no longer page limits to journals, any good work can and should be published. Consequently, being selective for the purpose of saving space in a journal is no longer a valid excuse that peer reviewers can use to reject a paper ( 32 ). However, some reviewers have used this excuse when they have personal ulterior motives, such as getting their own research published first.

RECENT INITIATIVES TOWARDS IMPROVING PEER REVIEW

F1000Research was launched in January 2013 by Faculty of 1000 as an open access journal that immediately publishes papers (after an initial check to ensure that the paper is in fact produced by a scientist and has not been plagiarised), and then conducts transparent post-publication peer review ( 32 ). F1000Research aims to prevent delays in new science reaching the academic community that are caused by prolonged publication times ( 32 ). It also aims to make peer reviewing more fair by eliminating any anonymity, which prevents reviewers from delaying the completion of a review so they can publish their own similar work first ( 32 ). F1000Research offers completely open peer review, where everything is published, including the name of the reviewers, their review reports, and the editorial decision letters ( 32 ).

PeerJ was founded by Jason Hoyt and Peter Binfield in June 2012 as an open access, peer reviewed scholarly journal for the Biological and Medical Sciences ( 33 ). PeerJ selects articles to publish based only on scientific and methodological soundness, not on subjective determinants of ‘impact ’, ‘novelty’ or ‘interest’ ( 34 ). It works on a “lifetime publishing plan” model which charges scientists for publishing plans that give them lifetime rights to publish with PeerJ, rather than charging them per publication ( 34 ). PeerJ also encourages open peer review, and authors are given the option to post the full peer review history of their submission with their published article ( 34 ). PeerJ also offers a pre-print review service called PeerJ Pre-prints, in which paper drafts are reviewed before being sent to PeerJ to publish ( 34 ).

Rubriq is an independent peer review service designed by Shashi Mudunuri and Keith Collier to improve the peer review system ( 35 ). Rubriq is intended to decrease redundancy in the peer review process so that the time lost in redundant reviewing can be put back into research ( 35 ). According to Keith Collier, over 15 million hours are lost each year to redundant peer review, as papers get rejected from one journal and are subsequently submitted to a less prestigious journal where they are reviewed again ( 35 ). Authors often have to submit their manuscript to multiple journals, and are often rejected multiple times before they find the right match. This process could take months or even years ( 35 ). Rubriq makes peer review portable in order to help authors choose the journal that is best suited for their manuscript from the beginning, thus reducing the time before their paper is published ( 35 ). Rubriq operates under an author-pay model, in which the author pays a fee and their manuscript undergoes double-blind peer review by three expert academic reviewers using a standardized scorecard ( 35 ). The majority of the author’s fee goes towards a reviewer honorarium ( 35 ). The papers are also screened for plagiarism using iThenticate ( 35 ). Once the manuscript has been reviewed by the three experts, the most appropriate journal for submission is determined based on the topic and quality of the paper ( 35 ). The paper is returned to the author in 1-2 weeks with the Rubriq Report ( 35 ). The author can then submit their paper to the suggested journal with the Rubriq Report attached. The Rubriq Report will give the journal editors a much stronger incentive to consider the paper as it shows that three experts have recommended the paper to them ( 35 ). Rubriq also has its benefits for reviewers; the Rubriq scorecard gives structure to the peer review process, and thus makes it consistent and efficient, which decreases time and stress for the reviewer. Reviewers also receive feedback on their reviews and most significantly, they are compensated for their time ( 35 ). Journals also benefit, as they receive pre-screened papers, reducing the number of papers sent to their own reviewers, which often end up rejected ( 35 ). This can reduce reviewer fatigue, and allow only higher-quality articles to be sent to their peer reviewers ( 35 ).

According to Eva Amsen, peer review and scientific publishing are moving in a new direction, in which all papers will be posted online, and a post-publication peer review will take place that is independent of specific journal criteria and solely focused on improving paper quality ( 32 ). Journals will then choose papers that they find relevant based on the peer reviews and publish those papers as a collection ( 32 ). In this process, peer review and individual journals are uncoupled ( 32 ). In Keith Collier’s opinion, post-publication peer review is likely to become more prevalent as a complement to pre-publication peer review, but not as a replacement ( 35 ). Post-publication peer review will not serve to identify errors and fraud but will provide an additional measurement of impact ( 35 ). Collier also believes that as journals and publishers consolidate into larger systems, there will be stronger potential for “cascading” and shared peer review ( 35 ).

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Peer review has become fundamental in assisting editors in selecting credible, high quality, novel and interesting research papers to publish in scientific journals and to ensure the correction of any errors or issues present in submitted papers. Though the peer review process still has some flaws and deficiencies, a more suitable screening method for scientific papers has not yet been proposed or developed. Researchers have begun and must continue to look for means of addressing the current issues with peer review to ensure that it is a full-proof system that ensures only quality research papers are released into the scientific community.

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Elise Peterson Lu , Brett G. Fischer , Melissa A. Plesac , Andrew P.J. Olson; Research Methods: How to Perform an Effective Peer Review. Hosp Pediatr November 2022; 12 (11): e409–e413. https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2022-006764

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Scientific peer review has existed for centuries and is a cornerstone of the scientific publication process. Because the number of scientific publications has rapidly increased over the past decades, so has the number of peer reviews and peer reviewers. In this paper, drawing on the relevant medical literature and our collective experience as peer reviewers, we provide a user guide to the peer review process, including discussion of the purpose and limitations of peer review, the qualities of a good peer reviewer, and a step-by-step process of how to conduct an effective peer review.

Peer review has been a part of scientific publications since 1665, when the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society became the first publication to formalize a system of expert review. 1 , 2   It became an institutionalized part of science in the latter half of the 20 th century and is now the standard in scientific research publications. 3   In 2012, there were more than 28 000 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and more than 3 million peer reviewed articles are now published annually. 3 , 4   However, even with this volume, most peer reviewers learn to review “on the (unpaid) job” and no standard training system exists to ensure quality and consistency. 5   Expectations and format vary between journals and most, but not all, provide basic instructions for reviewers. In this paper, we provide a general introduction to the peer review process and identify common strategies for success as well as pitfalls to avoid.

Modern peer review serves 2 primary purposes: (1) as “a screen before the diffusion of new knowledge” 6   and (2) as a method to improve the quality of published work. 1 , 5  

As screeners, peer reviewers evaluate the quality, validity, relevance, and significance of research before publication to maintain the credibility of the publications they serve and their fields of study. 1 , 2 , 7   Although peer reviewers are not the final decision makers on publication (that role belongs to the editor), their recommendations affect editorial decisions and thoughtful comments influence an article’s fate. 6 , 8  

As advisors and evaluators of manuscripts, reviewers have an opportunity and responsibility to give authors an outside expert’s perspective on their work. 9   They provide feedback that can improve methodology, enhance rigor, improve clarity, and redefine the scope of articles. 5 , 8 , 10   This often happens even if a paper is not ultimately accepted at the reviewer’s journal because peer reviewers’ comments are incorporated into revised drafts that are submitted to another journal. In a 2019 survey of authors, reviewers, and editors, 83% said that peer review helps science communication and 90% of authors reported that peer review improved their last paper. 11  

Expertise: Peer reviewers should be up to date with current literature, practice guidelines, and methodology within their subject area. However, academic rank and seniority do not define expertise and are not actually correlated with performance in peer review. 13  

Professionalism: Reviewers should be reliable and objective, aware of their own biases, and respectful of the confidentiality of the peer review process.

Critical skill : Reviewers should be organized, thorough, and detailed in their critique with the goal of improving the manuscript under their review, regardless of disposition. They should provide constructive comments that are specific and addressable, referencing literature when possible. A peer reviewer should leave a paper better than he or she found it.

Is the manuscript within your area of expertise? Generally, if you are asked to review a paper, it is because an editor felt that you were a qualified expert. In a 2019 survey, 74% of requested reviews were within the reviewer’s area of expertise. 11   This, of course, does not mean that you must be widely published in the area, only that you have enough expertise and comfort with the topic to critique and add to the paper.

Do you have any biases that may affect your review? Are there elements of the methodology, content area, or theory with which you disagree? Some disagreements between authors and reviewers are common, expected, and even helpful. However, if a reviewer fundamentally disagrees with an author’s premise such that he or she cannot be constructive, the review invitation should be declined.

Do you have the time? The average review for a clinical journal takes 5 to 6 hours, though many take longer depending on the complexity of the research and the experience of the reviewer. 1 , 14   Journals vary on the requested timeline for return of reviews, though it is usually 1 to 4 weeks. Peer review is often the longest part of the publication process and delays contribute to slower dissemination of important work and decreased author satisfaction. 15   Be mindful of your schedule and only accept a review invitation if you can reasonably return the review in the requested time.

Once you have determined that you are the right person and decided to take on the review, reply to the inviting e-mail or click the associated link to accept (or decline) the invitation. Journal editors invite a limited number of reviewers at a time and wait for responses before inviting others. A common complaint among journal editors surveyed was that reviewers would often take days to weeks to respond to requests, or not respond at all, making it difficult to find appropriate reviewers and prolonging an already long process. 5  

Now that you have decided to take on the review, it is best of have a systematic way of both evaluating the manuscript and writing the review. Various suggestions exist in the literature, but we will describe our standard procedure for review, incorporating specific do’s and don’ts summarized in Table 1 .

Dos and Don’ts of Peer Review

First, read the manuscript once without making notes or forming opinions to get a sense of the paper as whole. Assess the overall tone and flow and define what the authors identify as the main point of their work. Does the work overall make sense? Do the authors tell the story effectively?

Next, read the manuscript again with an eye toward review, taking notes and formulating thoughts on strengths and weaknesses. Consider the methodology and identify the specific type of research described. Refer to the corresponding reporting guideline if applicable (CONSORT for randomized control trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews). Reporting guidelines often include a checklist, flow diagram, or structured text giving a minimum list of information needed in a manuscript based on the type of research done. 16   This allows the reviewer to formulate a more nuanced and specific assessment of the manuscript.

Next, review the main findings, the significance of the work, and what contribution it makes to the field. Examine the presentation and flow of the manuscript but do not copy edit the text. At this point, you should start to write your review. Some journals provide a format for their reviews, but often it is up to the reviewer. In surveys of journal editors and reviewers, a review organized by manuscript section was the most favored, 5 , 6   so that is what we will describe here.

As you write your review, consider starting with a brief summary of the work that identifies the main topic, explains the basic approach, and describes the findings and conclusions. 12 , 17   Though not universally included in all reviews, we have found this step to be helpful in ensuring that the work is conveyed clearly enough for the reviewer to summarize it. Include brief notes on the significance of the work and what it adds to current knowledge. Critique the presentation of the work: is it clearly written? Is its length appropriate? List any major concerns with the work overall, such as major methodological flaws or inaccurate conclusions that should disqualify it from publication, though do not comment directly on disposition. Then perform your review by section:

Abstract : Is it consistent with the rest of the paper? Does it adequately describe the major points?

Introduction : This section should provide adequate background to explain the need for the study. Generally, classic or highly relevant studies should be cited, but citations do not have to be exhaustive. The research question and hypothesis should be clearly stated.

Methods: Evaluate both the methods themselves and the way in which they are explained. Does the methodology used meet the needs of the questions proposed? Is there sufficient detail to explain what the authors did and, if not, what needs to be added? For clinical research, examine the inclusion/exclusion criteria, control populations, and possible sources of bias. Reporting guidelines can be particularly helpful in determining the appropriateness of the methods and how they are reported.

Some journals will expect an evaluation of the statistics used, whereas others will have a separate statistician evaluate, and the reviewers are generally not expected to have an exhaustive knowledge of statistical methods. Clarify expectations if needed and, if you do not feel qualified to evaluate the statistics, make this clear in your review.

Results: Evaluate the presentation of the results. Is information given in sufficient detail to assess credibility? Are the results consistent with the methodology reported? Are the figures and tables consistent with the text, easy to interpret, and relevant to the work? Make note of data that could be better detailed in figures or tables, rather than included in the text. Make note of inappropriate interpretation in the results section (this should be in discussion) or rehashing of methods.

Discussion: Evaluate the authors’ interpretation of their results, how they address limitations, and the implications of their work. How does the work contribute to the field, and do the authors adequately describe those contributions? Make note of overinterpretation or conclusions not supported by the data.

The length of your review often correlates with your opinion of the quality of the work. If an article has major flaws that you think preclude publication, write a brief review that focuses on the big picture. Articles that may not be accepted but still represent quality work merit longer reviews aimed at helping the author improve the work for resubmission elsewhere.

Generally, do not include your recommendation on disposition in the body of the review itself. Acceptance or rejection is ultimately determined by the editor and including your recommendation in your comments to the authors can be confusing. A journal editor’s decision on acceptance or rejection may depend on more factors than just the quality of the work, including the subject area, journal priorities, other contemporaneous submissions, and page constraints.

Many submission sites include a separate question asking whether to accept, accept with major revision, or reject. If this specific format is not included, then add your recommendation in the “confidential notes to the editor.” Your recommendation should be consistent with the content of your review: don’t give a glowing review but recommend rejection or harshly criticize a manuscript but recommend publication. Last, regardless of your ultimate recommendation on disposition, it is imperative to use respectful and professional language and tone in your written review.

Although peer review is often described as the “gatekeeper” of science and characterized as a quality control measure, peer review is not ideally designed to detect fundamental errors, plagiarism, or fraud. In multiple studies, peer reviewers detected only 20% to 33% of intentionally inserted errors in scientific manuscripts. 18 , 19   Plagiarism similarly is not detected in peer review, largely because of the huge volume of literature available to plagiarize. Most journals now use computer software to identify plagiarism before a manuscript goes to peer review. Finally, outright fraud often goes undetected in peer review. Reviewers start from a position of respect for the authors and trust the data they are given barring obvious inconsistencies. Ultimately, reviewers are “gatekeepers, not detectives.” 7  

Peer review is also limited by bias. Even with the best of intentions, reviewers bring biases including but not limited to prestige bias, affiliation bias, nationality bias, language bias, gender bias, content bias, confirmation bias, bias against interdisciplinary research, publication bias, conservatism, and bias of conflict of interest. 3 , 4 , 6   For example, peer reviewers score methodology higher and are more likely to recommend publication when prestigious author names or institutions are visible. 20   Although bias can be mitigated both by the reviewer and by the journal, it cannot be eliminated. Reviewers should be mindful of their own biases while performing reviews and work to actively mitigate them. For example, if English language editing is necessary, state this with specific examples rather than suggesting the authors seek editing by a “native English speaker.”

Peer review is an essential, though imperfect, part of the forward movement of science. Peer review can function as both a gatekeeper to protect the published record of science and a mechanism to improve research at the level of individual manuscripts. Here, we have described our strategy, summarized in Table 2 , for performing a thorough peer review, with a focus on organization, objectivity, and constructiveness. By using a systematized strategy to evaluate manuscripts and an organized format for writing reviews, you can provide a relatively objective perspective in editorial decision-making. By providing specific and constructive feedback to authors, you contribute to the quality of the published literature.

Take-home Points

FUNDING: No external funding.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Dr Lu performed the literature review and wrote the manuscript. Dr Fischer assisted in the literature review and reviewed and edited the manuscript. Dr Plesac provided background information on the process of peer review, reviewed and edited the manuscript, and completed revisions. Dr Olson provided background information and practical advice, critically reviewed and revised the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript.

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• Published: 05 December 2023

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• Peer review

Peer review for a narrative review article can be quite different from the process for an empirical manuscript. We demystify the aims of and procedures for peer review at Nature Reviews Psychology .

All of our Review and Perspective articles are peer reviewed by experts in the field. Our peer review process for these papers has many broad similarities to peer review of empirical research papers. However, it also has a few unique aspects. For one thing, review-type articles do not report any original analyses, so there are no methodological details or statistical analyses to evaluate. Instead, papers in our journal should organize, synthesize and critically discuss the literature, as well as conveying recommendations for future research in the field.

Our instructions to reviewers echo these broad aims, as well as the specific aims of each article type. We ask reviewers whether the scope of the article is clear and whether the coverage of material is appropriate, both within the specific topic area and across the broader context of the field. For a Review, discussion of major theories or findings should be balanced, and any intentional omissions should be explained to the reader. For a Perspective, the authors should not ignore alternative points of view even as they centre their own account.

Another major aspect of the manuscript that we ask peer reviewers to consider is its timeliness: does the article provide a needed update, an authoritative synthesis, a unique angle or a useful framework? Importantly, we do not ask reviewers to evaluate the ‘novelty’ of a manuscript. Because reviews must be based in existing literature, a truly novel manuscript with only original ideas wouldn’t be a review at all!

Finally, we ask reviewers to evaluate how the paper might be received by our broad audience of researchers, academics and clinicians across psychology. We want our articles to strike a balance between authoritative and accessible so that a broad audience of topic experts and non-experts alike can benefit from their insights. That said, we want reviewers to focus on the article content. Writing issues such as typos, run-on sentences or grammatical mistakes will be addressed when the paper undergoes a detailed edit before publication.

Like editors at any journal, we aim to secure expert reviewers in each major topic covered by the manuscript. For some topics, we might invite researchers who don’t primarily consider themselves academics, such as clinicians or industry researchers. We aim for a diverse reviewer panel with respect to geographical location, racial and ethnic background, gender and career stage. All of these aspects can influence a reviewer’s evaluation of a manuscript, and a range of perspectives helps contribute to an overall evaluation that is fair and unbiased. Of course, we avoid reviewers with conflicts of interest, such as past or current collaborators.

The majority of our papers will go back to authors for a revision, and we want that revision to be as productive as possible. To that end, we annotate individual points of feedback in the peer review reports to help authors focus their revision efforts. We highlight comments that are particularly valuable or that we see having a substantial impact on the final article. For instance, some reviewers ask authors to motivate or reconsider a particular decision they made, such as to focus on a particular phenomenon, omit a specific outdated theory, or discuss topic A before topic B. Revisions in response to these types of request are often straightforward to implement but have a big impact on the eventual reader. We also adjudicate when two reviewers ask for opposing changes or make contradictory remarks, adding editorial guidance to help authors break the stalemate. Finally, we keep the scope and narrative cohesiveness of the article in mind. If a reviewer seems to be asking for the paper to be refocused around a different topic or wants extensive discussion of a tangential issue, we might tell authors that they can politely decline that particular piece of feedback. Ultimately, our aim is to provide authors with a clear path to a successful revision.

When we receive the revised version of a manuscript, we do a thorough read of the point-by-point rebuttal letter and the revised manuscript to determine whether the reviewers’ requests have been conscientiously addressed. Typical reviewer comments are about how concepts are explained, the space authors dedicate to discussing particular aspects of the literature, or alignment between the manuscript’s stated aims and its content. As professional editors with doctoral degrees in psychology, we are trained to evaluate the extent to which revisions to the text satisfy these types of reviewer concern; many manuscripts are not returned to peer reviewers for a second round after our evaluation. However, if substantial scientific information has been added or if we’re uncertain whether a reviewer’s concerns have been addressed, we will enlist all or a subset of the original peer reviewers to re-evaluate the manuscript.

“The peer review process…is a collaborative effort by the authors, the peer reviewers and the editor to bring out the best version of each article.”

The peer review process at Nature Reviews Psychology is designed to facilitate the transfer of critical yet constructive feedback between experts. It is a collaborative effort by the authors, the peer reviewers and the editor to bring out the best version of each article.

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Where to find peer reviewed articles for research

This is our ultimate guide to helping you get familiar with your research field and find peer reviewed articles in the Web of Science™. It forms part of our Research Smarter series. 

Finding relevant research and journal articles in your field is critical to a successful research project. Unfortunately, it can be one of the hardest, most time-consuming challenges for academics.

This blog outlines how you can leverage the Web of Science citation network to complete an in-depth, comprehensive search for literature. We share insights about how you can find a research paper and quickly assess its impact. We also explain how to create alerts to keep track of new papers in your field – whether you’re new to the topic or about to embark on a literature review.

• Choosing research databases for your search
• Where to find peer reviewed articles? Master the keyword search
• Filter your results and analyze for trends
• Explore the citation network
• Save your searches and set up alerts for new journal articles

1. Choosing research databases for your search

The myriad search engines, research databases and data repositories all differ in reliability, relevancy and organization of data. This can make it tricky to navigate and assess what’s best for your research at hand.

The Web of Science stands out the most powerful and trusted citation database. It helps you connect ideas and advance scientific research across all fields and disciplines. This is made possible with best-in-class publication and citation data for confident discovery and assessment of journal articles. The Web of Science is also publisher-neutral, carefully-curated by a team of expert editors and consists of 19 different research databases.

The Web of Science Core Collection™ is the single most authoritative source for how to find research articles, discover top authors , and relevant journals . It only includes journals that have met rigorous quality and impact criteria, and it captures billions of cited references from globally significant journals, books and proceedings ( check out its coverage ). Researchers and organizations use this research database regularly to track ideas across disciplines and time.

Explore the Web of Science Core Collection

We recommend spending time exploring the Core Collection specifically because its advanced citation network features are unparalleled. If you are looking to do an exhaustive search of a specific field, you might want to switch to one of the field-specific databases like MEDLINE and INSPEC. You can also select “All databases” from the drop-down box on the main search page. This will cover all research databases your institution subscribes to. IF you are still unsure about where to find scholarly journal articles, you can learn more in our Quick Reference Guide, here, or try it out today.

“We recommend spending time exploring the Core Collection specifically because its advanced citation network features are unparalleled.”

2. Where to find peer reviewed articles? Master the keyword search

A great deal of care and consideration is needed to find peer review articles for research. It starts with your keyword search.

Your chosen keywords or search phrases cannot be too inclusive or limiting. They also require constant iteration as you become more familiar with your research field. Watch this video on search tips to learn more:

It’s worth noting that a repeated keyword search in the same Web of Science database will retrieve almost identical results every time, save for newly-indexed research. Not all research databases do this. If you are conducting a literature review and require a reproducible keyword search, it is best to steer clear of certain databases. For example, a research database that lacks overall transparency or frequently changes its search algorithm may be detrimental to your research.

3. Filter your search results and analyze trends

Group, rank and analyze the research articles in your search results to optimize the relevancy and efficiency of your efforts. In the Web of Science, researchers can cut through the data in a number of creative ways. This will help you when you’re stuck wondering where to find peer reviewed articles, journals and authors. The filter and refine tools , as well as the Analyze Results feature, are all at your disposal for this.

“Group, rank and analyze the research papers in your search results to optimize the relevancy and efficiency of your efforts.”

Filter and Refine tools in the Web of Science

You can opt for basic filter and refine tools in the Web of Science. These include subject category, publication date and open access within your search results. You can also filter by highly-cited research and hot research papers. A hot paper is a journal article that has accumulated rapid and significant numbers of citations over a short period of time.

The Analyze Results tool does much of this and more. It provides an interactive visualization of your results by the most prolific author, institution and funding agency, for example. This, combined, will help you understand trends across your field.

4. Explore the citation network

Keyword searches are essentially an a priori view of the literature. Citation-based searching, on the other hand, leads to “systematic serendipity”. This term was used by Eugene Garfield, the founder of Web of Science. New scientific developments are linked to the global sphere of human knowledge through the citation network. The constantly evolving connections link ideas and lead to systematic serendipity, allowing for all sorts of surprising discoveries.

Exploring the citation network helps you to:

• Identify a seminal research paper in any field. Pay attention to the number of times a journal article is cited to achieve this.
• Track the advancement of research as it progresses over time by analyzing the research papers that cite the original source. This will also help you catch retractions and corrections to research.
• Track the evolution of a research paper backward in time by tracking the work that a particular journal article cites.
• View related references. A research paper may share citations with another piece of work (calculated from bibliographic coupling). That means it’s likely discussing a similar topic.

Visualizing the history discoveries in the citation network

The Web of Science Core Collection indexes every piece of content cover-to-cover. This creates a complete and certain view of more than 115 years of the highest-quality journal articles. The depth of coverage enables you to uncover the historical trail of a research paper in your field. By doing so, it helps you visualize how discoveries unfold through time. You can also learn where they might branch off into new areas of research.  Achieve this in your search by ordering your result set by date of publication.

As PhD student Rachel Ragnhild Carlson (Stanford University) recently wrote in a column for Nature: [1]

”As a PhD student, I’ve learnt to rely not just on my Web of Science research but on numerous conversations with seasoned experts. And I make sure that my reading includes literature from previous decades, which often doesn’t rise to the top of a web search. This practice is reinforced by mentors in my lab, who often find research gems by filtering explicitly for studies greater than ten years old.”

5. Save your search and set up alerts for new journal articles

Save time and keep abreast of new journal articles in your field by saving your searches and setting up email alerts . This means you can return to your search at any time. You can also stay up-to-date about a new research paper included in your search result. This will help you find an article more easily in the future. Head over to Web of Science to try it out today.

“Everyone should set up email alerts with keywords for PubMed, Web of Science, etc. Those keyword lists will evolve and be fine-tuned over time. However, it really helps to get an idea of recent publications.” Thorbjörn Sievert , PhD student, University of Jyväskylä

[1] Ragnhild Carlson, R. 2020 ‘How Trump’s embattled environment agency prepared me for a PhD’, Nature 579, 458

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50+ Research Topics for Psychology Papers

How to Find Psychology Research Topics for Your Student Paper

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

• Specific Branches of Psychology
• Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy
• Human Cognition
• Human Development
• Critique of Publications
• Famous Experiments
• Historical Figures
• Specific Careers
• Case Studies
• Literature Reviews
• Your Own Study/Experiment

Are you searching for a great topic for your psychology paper ? Sometimes it seems like coming up with topics of psychology research is more challenging than the actual research and writing. Fortunately, there are plenty of great places to find inspiration and the following list contains just a few ideas to help get you started.

Finding a solid topic is one of the most important steps when writing any type of paper. It can be particularly important when you are writing a psychology research paper or essay. Psychology is such a broad topic, so you want to find a topic that allows you to adequately cover the subject without becoming overwhelmed with information.

I can always tell when a student really cares about the topic they chose; it comes through in the writing. My advice is to choose a topic that genuinely interests you, so you’ll be more motivated to do thorough research.

In some cases, such as in a general psychology class, you might have the option to select any topic from within psychology's broad reach. Other instances, such as in an  abnormal psychology  course, might require you to write your paper on a specific subject such as a psychological disorder.

As you begin your search for a topic for your psychology paper, it is first important to consider the guidelines established by your instructor.

Research Topics Within Specific Branches of Psychology

The key to selecting a good topic for your psychology paper is to select something that is narrow enough to allow you to really focus on the subject, but not so narrow that it is difficult to find sources or information to write about.

One approach is to narrow your focus down to a subject within a specific branch of psychology. For example, you might start by deciding that you want to write a paper on some sort of social psychology topic. Next, you might narrow your focus down to how persuasion can be used to influence behavior .

Other social psychology topics you might consider include:

• Prejudice and discrimination (i.e., homophobia, sexism, racism)
• Social cognition
• Person perception
• Social control and cults
• Persuasion, propaganda, and marketing
• Attraction, romance, and love
• Nonverbal communication
• Prosocial behavior

Psychology Research Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy

Exploring a psychological disorder or a specific treatment modality can also be a good topic for a psychology paper. Some potential abnormal psychology topics include specific psychological disorders or particular treatment modalities, including:

• Eating disorders
• Borderline personality disorder
• Seasonal affective disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Antisocial personality disorder
• Profile a  type of therapy  (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, psychoanalytic therapy)

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Cognition

Some of the possible topics you might explore in this area include thinking, language, intelligence, and decision-making. Other ideas might include:

• False memories
• Speech disorders
• Problem-solving

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Development

In this area, you might opt to focus on issues pertinent to  early childhood  such as language development, social learning, or childhood attachment or you might instead opt to concentrate on issues that affect older adults such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Some other topics you might consider include:

• Language acquisition
• Media violence and children
• Learning disabilities
• Gender roles
• Child abuse
• Prenatal development
• Parenting styles
• Aspects of the aging process

Do a Critique of Publications Involving Psychology Research Topics

One option is to consider writing a critique paper of a published psychology book or academic journal article. For example, you might write a critical analysis of Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams or you might evaluate a more recent book such as Philip Zimbardo's  The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil .

Professional and academic journals are also great places to find materials for a critique paper. Browse through the collection at your university library to find titles devoted to the subject that you are most interested in, then look through recent articles until you find one that grabs your attention.

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Famous Experiments

There have been many fascinating and groundbreaking experiments throughout the history of psychology, providing ample material for students looking for an interesting term paper topic. In your paper, you might choose to summarize the experiment, analyze the ethics of the research, or evaluate the implications of the study. Possible experiments that you might consider include:

• The Milgram Obedience Experiment
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• The Little Albert Experiment
• Pavlov's Conditioning Experiments
• The Asch Conformity Experiment
• Harlow's Rhesus Monkey Experiments

Topics of Psychology Research About Historical Figures

One of the simplest ways to find a great topic is to choose an interesting person in the  history of psychology  and write a paper about them. Your paper might focus on many different elements of the individual's life, such as their biography, professional history, theories, or influence on psychology.

While this type of paper may be historical in nature, there is no need for this assignment to be dry or boring. Psychology is full of fascinating figures rife with intriguing stories and anecdotes. Consider such famous individuals as Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Harry Harlow, or one of the many other  eminent psychologists .

Psychology Research Topics About a Specific Career

​Another possible topic, depending on the course in which you are enrolled, is to write about specific career paths within the  field of psychology . This type of paper is especially appropriate if you are exploring different subtopics or considering which area interests you the most.

In your paper, you might opt to explore the typical duties of a psychologist, how much people working in these fields typically earn, and the different employment options that are available.

Topics of Psychology Research Involving Case Studies

One potentially interesting idea is to write a  psychology case study  of a particular individual or group of people. In this type of paper, you will provide an in-depth analysis of your subject, including a thorough biography.

Generally, you will also assess the person, often using a major psychological theory such as  Piaget's stages of cognitive development  or  Erikson's eight-stage theory of human development . It is also important to note that your paper doesn't necessarily have to be about someone you know personally.

In fact, many professors encourage students to write case studies on historical figures or fictional characters from books, television programs, or films.

Psychology Research Topics Involving Literature Reviews

Another possibility that would work well for a number of psychology courses is to do a literature review of a specific topic within psychology. A literature review involves finding a variety of sources on a particular subject, then summarizing and reporting on what these sources have to say about the topic.

Literature reviews are generally found in the  introduction  of journal articles and other  psychology papers , but this type of analysis also works well for a full-scale psychology term paper.

Topics of Psychology Research Based on Your Own Study or Experiment

Many psychology courses require students to design an actual psychological study or perform some type of experiment. In some cases, students simply devise the study and then imagine the possible results that might occur. In other situations, you may actually have the opportunity to collect data, analyze your findings, and write up your results.

Finding a topic for your study can be difficult, but there are plenty of great ways to come up with intriguing ideas. Start by considering your own interests as well as subjects you have studied in the past.

Online sources, newspaper articles, books , journal articles, and even your own class textbook are all great places to start searching for topics for your experiments and psychology term papers. Before you begin, learn more about  how to conduct a psychology experiment .

What This Means For You

After looking at this brief list of possible topics for psychology papers, it is easy to see that psychology is a very broad and diverse subject. While this variety makes it possible to find a topic that really catches your interest, it can sometimes make it very difficult for some students to select a good topic.

If you are still stumped by your assignment, ask your instructor for suggestions and consider a few from this list for inspiration.

• Hockenbury, SE & Nolan, SA. Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers; 2014.
• Santrock, JW. A Topical Approach to Lifespan Development. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2016.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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• What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples

What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples

Published on 6 May 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on 2 September 2022.

Peer review, sometimes referred to as refereeing , is the process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Using strict criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decides whether to accept each submission for publication.

Peer-reviewed articles are considered a highly credible source due to the stringent process they go through before publication.

There are various types of peer review. The main difference between them is to what extent the authors, reviewers, and editors know each other’s identities. The most common types are:

• Single-blind review
• Double-blind review
• Triple-blind review

Collaborative review

Open review.

Relatedly, peer assessment is a process where your peers provide you with feedback on something you’ve written, based on a set of criteria or benchmarks from an instructor. They then give constructive feedback, compliments, or guidance to help you improve your draft.

Table of contents

What is the purpose of peer review, types of peer review, the peer review process, providing feedback to your peers, peer review example, advantages of peer review, criticisms of peer review, frequently asked questions about peer review.

Many academic fields use peer review, largely to determine whether a manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review enhances the credibility of the manuscript. For this reason, academic journals are among the most credible sources you can refer to.

However, peer review is also common in non-academic settings. The United Nations, the European Union, and many individual nations use peer review to evaluate grant applications. It is also widely used in medical and health-related fields as a teaching or quality-of-care measure.

Peer assessment is often used in the classroom as a pedagogical tool. Both receiving feedback and providing it are thought to enhance the learning process, helping students think critically and collaboratively.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Depending on the journal, there are several types of peer review.

Single-blind peer review

The most common type of peer review is single-blind (or single anonymised) review . Here, the names of the reviewers are not known by the author.

While this gives the reviewers the ability to give feedback without the possibility of interference from the author, there has been substantial criticism of this method in the last few years. Many argue that single-blind reviewing can lead to poaching or intellectual theft or that anonymised comments cause reviewers to be too harsh.

Double-blind peer review

In double-blind (or double anonymised) review , both the author and the reviewers are anonymous.

Arguments for double-blind review highlight that this mitigates any risk of prejudice on the side of the reviewer, while protecting the nature of the process. In theory, it also leads to manuscripts being published on merit rather than on the reputation of the author.

Triple-blind peer review

While triple-blind (or triple anonymised) review – where the identities of the author, reviewers, and editors are all anonymised – does exist, it is difficult to carry out in practice.

Proponents of adopting triple-blind review for journal submissions argue that it minimises potential conflicts of interest and biases. However, ensuring anonymity is logistically challenging, and current editing software is not always able to fully anonymise everyone involved in the process.

In collaborative review , authors and reviewers interact with each other directly throughout the process. However, the identity of the reviewer is not known to the author. This gives all parties the opportunity to resolve any inconsistencies or contradictions in real time, and provides them a rich forum for discussion. It can mitigate the need for multiple rounds of editing and minimise back-and-forth.

Collaborative review can be time- and resource-intensive for the journal, however. For these collaborations to occur, there has to be a set system in place, often a technological platform, with staff monitoring and fixing any bugs or glitches.

Lastly, in open review , all parties know each other’s identities throughout the process. Often, open review can also include feedback from a larger audience, such as an online forum, or reviewer feedback included as part of the final published product.

While many argue that greater transparency prevents plagiarism or unnecessary harshness, there is also concern about the quality of future scholarship if reviewers feel they have to censor their comments.

In general, the peer review process includes the following steps:

• First, the author submits the manuscript to the editor.
• Reject the manuscript and send it back to the author, or
• Send it onward to the selected peer reviewer(s)
• Next, the peer review process occurs. The reviewer provides feedback, addressing any major or minor issues with the manuscript, and gives their advice regarding what edits should be made.
• Lastly, the edited manuscript is sent back to the author. They input the edits and resubmit it to the editor for publication.

In an effort to be transparent, many journals are now disclosing who reviewed each article in the published product. There are also increasing opportunities for collaboration and feedback, with some journals allowing open communication between reviewers and authors.

It can seem daunting at first to conduct a peer review or peer assessment. If you’re not sure where to start, there are several best practices you can use.

Summarise the argument in your own words

Summarising the main argument helps the author see how their argument is interpreted by readers, and gives you a jumping-off point for providing feedback. If you’re having trouble doing this, it’s a sign that the argument needs to be clearer, more concise, or worded differently.

If the author sees that you’ve interpreted their argument differently than they intended, they have an opportunity to address any misunderstandings when they get the manuscript back.

Separate your feedback into major and minor issues

It can be challenging to keep feedback organised. One strategy is to start out with any major issues and then flow into the more minor points. It’s often helpful to keep your feedback in a numbered list, so the author has concrete points to refer back to.

Major issues typically consist of any problems with the style, flow, or key points of the manuscript. Minor issues include spelling errors, citation errors, or other smaller, easy-to-apply feedback.

The best feedback you can provide is anything that helps them strengthen their argument or resolve major stylistic issues.

Give the type of feedback that you would like to receive

No one likes being criticised, and it can be difficult to give honest feedback without sounding overly harsh or critical. One strategy you can use here is the ‘compliment sandwich’, where you ‘sandwich’ your constructive criticism between two compliments.

Be sure you are giving concrete, actionable feedback that will help the author submit a successful final draft. While you shouldn’t tell them exactly what they should do, your feedback should help them resolve any issues they may have overlooked.

As a rule of thumb, your feedback should be:

• Easy to understand
• Constructive

Below is a brief annotated research example. You can view examples of peer feedback by hovering over the highlighted sections.

Influence of phone use on sleep

Studies show that teens from the US are getting less sleep than they were a decade ago (Johnson, 2019) . On average, teens only slept for 6 hours a night in 2021, compared to 8 hours a night in 2011. Johnson mentions several potential causes, such as increased anxiety, changed diets, and increased phone use.

The current study focuses on the effect phone use before bedtime has on the number of hours of sleep teens are getting.

For this study, a sample of 300 teens was recruited using social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. The first week, all teens were allowed to use their phone the way they normally would, in order to obtain a baseline.

The sample was then divided into 3 groups:

• Group 1 was not allowed to use their phone before bedtime.
• Group 2 used their phone for 1 hour before bedtime.
• Group 3 used their phone for 3 hours before bedtime.

All participants were asked to go to sleep around 10 p.m. to control for variation in bedtime . In the morning, their Fitbit showed the number of hours they’d slept. They kept track of these numbers themselves for 1 week.

Two independent t tests were used in order to compare Group 1 and Group 2, and Group 1 and Group 3. The first t test showed no significant difference ( p > .05) between the number of hours for Group 1 ( M = 7.8, SD = 0.6) and Group 2 ( M = 7.0, SD = 0.8). The second t test showed a significant difference ( p < .01) between the average difference for Group 1 ( M = 7.8, SD = 0.6) and Group 3 ( M = 6.1, SD = 1.5).

This shows that teens sleep fewer hours a night if they use their phone for over an hour before bedtime, compared to teens who use their phone for 0 to 1 hours.

Peer review is an established and hallowed process in academia, dating back hundreds of years. It provides various fields of study with metrics, expectations, and guidance to ensure published work is consistent with predetermined standards.

• Protects the quality of published research

Peer review can stop obviously problematic, falsified, or otherwise untrustworthy research from being published. Any content that raises red flags for reviewers can be closely examined in the review stage, preventing plagiarised or duplicated research from being published.

• Gives you access to feedback from experts in your field

Peer review represents an excellent opportunity to get feedback from renowned experts in your field and to improve your writing through their feedback and guidance. Experts with knowledge about your subject matter can give you feedback on both style and content, and they may also suggest avenues for further research that you hadn’t yet considered.

• Helps you identify any weaknesses in your argument

Peer review acts as a first defence, helping you ensure your argument is clear and that there are no gaps, vague terms, or unanswered questions for readers who weren’t involved in the research process. This way, you’ll end up with a more robust, more cohesive article.

While peer review is a widely accepted metric for credibility, it’s not without its drawbacks.

• Reviewer bias

The more transparent double-blind system is not yet very common, which can lead to bias in reviewing. A common criticism is that an excellent paper by a new researcher may be declined, while an objectively lower-quality submission by an established researcher would be accepted.

• Delays in publication

The thoroughness of the peer review process can lead to significant delays in publishing time. Research that was current at the time of submission may not be as current by the time it’s published.

• Risk of human error

By its very nature, peer review carries a risk of human error. In particular, falsification often cannot be detected, given that reviewers would have to replicate entire experiments to ensure the validity of results.

Peer review is a process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Utilising rigorous criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decide whether to accept each submission for publication.

For this reason, academic journals are often considered among the most credible sources you can use in a research project – provided that the journal itself is trustworthy and well regarded.

Peer review can stop obviously problematic, falsified, or otherwise untrustworthy research from being published. It also represents an excellent opportunity to get feedback from renowned experts in your field.

It acts as a first defence, helping you ensure your argument is clear and that there are no gaps, vague terms, or unanswered questions for readers who weren’t involved in the research process.

Peer-reviewed articles are considered a highly credible source due to this stringent process they go through before publication.

In general, the peer review process follows the following steps:

• Reject the manuscript and send it back to author, or
• Lastly, the edited manuscript is sent back to the author. They input the edits, and resubmit it to the editor for publication.

Many academic fields use peer review , largely to determine whether a manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review enhances the credibility of the published manuscript.

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Expert Commentary

What’s peer review? 5 things you should know before covering research

Is peer-reviewed research really superior? Why should journalists note in their stories whether studies have been peer reviewed? We explain.

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by Denise-Marie Ordway, The Journalist's Resource May 8, 2021

This <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org/media/peer-review-research-journalists/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org">The Journalist's Resource</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://journalistsresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cropped-jr-favicon-150x150.png" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">

As scholars and other experts rush to release new research aimed at better understanding the coronavirus pandemic, newsrooms must be more careful than ever in vetting the biomedical studies they choose to cover. One of the first steps journalists should take to gauge the quality of all types of research is answering this important question: Has the paper undergone peer review?

Peer review is a formal process through which researchers evaluate and provide feedback on one another’s work, ideally filtering out flawed and low-quality studies while strengthening others. Academic journals generally do not publish papers that have not survived the process. Researchers often share studies that have not been peer reviewed — usually referred to as working papers or preprints — by posting them to online servers and repositories.

It’s worth noting the world’s largest preprint servers for life sciences — bioRxiv — and health sciences — medRxiv — screen papers for plagiarism and content that is offensive, non-scientific or might pose a health or biosecurity risk. But there are preprint servers in other fields that do not apply the same level of scrutiny.

While peer review is intended for quality control, it is imperfect. For example, reviewers, who often are college faculty with expertise in the same field as the work they are examining, sometimes fail to detect fraud, data discrepancies and other problems. Even some of the most prestigious journals with the most rigorous peer-review processes have had to retract articles. Retractions are rare, however.

 “Only about four of every 10,000 papers are now retracted. And although the rate roughly doubled from 2003 to 2009, it has remained level since 2012,” Science magazine reported in 2018 .

As of early May 2021, a total of 108 papers about COVID-19 , the bulk of which appeared in journals, had been withdrawn, according to Retraction Watch , which maintains an online database of research retractions going back decades.

Despite its flaws, researchers, overall, seem confident in peer review. During a 2019 survey of more than 3,000 researchers across disciplines in multiple countries, 85% agreed or strongly agreed that without peer review, there is no control in scientific communication. The survey — conducted by Elsevier , one of the world’s largest journal publishers, and Sense about Science , a London-based nonprofit promoting public interest in science and evidence — also finds 90% of participating researchers agreed or strongly agreed that peer review improves the quality of research.

Several published studies present similar findings. A 2017 paper in Learned Publishing indicates early career researchers are “generally supportive of peer review” but complain the process is time-consuming and that reviewers, who typically work on a volunteer basis, should be rewarded with some sort of professional acknowledgement or payment.

Regardless of the type of research journalists cover, they should have at least a basic understanding of the peer-review process and its benefits and shortcomings.

Below, we explain some of the most important aspects with help from several experts, including Diane Sullenberger , executive editor of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ; Miriam Lewis Sabin , a senior editor at The Lancet ; and John Inglis , executive director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press and co-founder of bioRxiv and medRxiv.

1. Peer reviewers are not fraud detectors. They also do not verify the accuracy of a research study.

The peer-review process is meant to validate research, not verify it. Reviewers typically do not authenticate the study’s data or make sure its authors actually followed the procedures they say they followed to reach their conclusions. Reviewers, sometimes called referees, also do not determine whether findings are correct, given the data and other evidence used to reach them.

Reviewers do examine academic papers to answer a range of relevant questions. They look at whether the research questions are clear, for example, and whether the study’s design, sampling methods and analysis are appropriate for answering those questions. They also assess whether the paper answers such questions as:

• Is the study explained clearly enough and in enough detail that another researcher could replicate it?
• How does the study challenge or add to the body of knowledge on this topic?
• Does it fit the standards and scope of the journal to which it was submitted?
• If the study involves humans or animals, did the authors acquire the required approvals and meet ethical standards?
• Does it give proper attribution to earlier research?

When German theologian Henry Oldenburg created the first journal dedicated to science in 1665, he considered the key functions of a research journal to be registration, certification, dissemination and archiving, writes Robert Campbell , a senior publisher at Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, in the book Academic and Professional Publishing .

Peer review is considered the gold standard for assessing research content, Sullenberger explained in an email interview. But journalists must understand it is not infallible, she added.

“Science is self-correcting through replication and reproducibility, and research fraud can be difficult to detect in peer review,” she wrote.

2. Journalists can help the public recognize the value of peer review by noting whether the studies they cover have been peer reviewed.

Scholars, research organizations and others regularly criticize news outlets for failing to explain whether new research they report on or the older studies they incorporate into their stories have undergone peer review. It’s important that journalists differentiate between peer-reviewed research and preprint papers, which often present preliminary findings.

Sullenberger told JR : “Greater clarity when journalists cover unreviewed preprints is needed; they should not be reported as having the same validity and authority as peer-reviewed research papers. “

A recent study in the journal Health Communication finds that many of the news articles written about COVID-related preprints during the first four months of 2020 did not indicate the scientific uncertainty of that research. About 43% of the stories analyzed did not mention the research was a preprint, unreviewed, preliminary or in need of verification.

At the time of that study, however, many of the journalists drawn into reporting the frenzy of stories about the pandemic were unfamiliar with preprints, Inglis says. Today, he adds, journalists covering the coronavirus are much more likely to include phrases such as “not yet peer reviewed” to describe preprints.

Sense About Science urges the public to pay attention to whether a study being discussed in a government meeting or in the media has been peer reviewed. “The more we ask, ‘is it peer reviewed?’ the more obliged reporters will be to include this information,” the organization asserts in a leaflet it created to help the public scrutinize the scientific information featured in news stories.

Knowing whether research has been peer reviewed helps a person judge how much weight to give the claims being made by its authors, Tracey Brown , the managing director of Sense About Science, explained during an interview with The Scholarly Kitchen blog.

“We have to establish an understanding that the status of research findings is as important as the findings themselves,” Brown says in a prepared statement . “This understanding has the capacity to improve the decisions we make across all of society.”

3. Peer reviewers help decide a study’s fate.

Journal editors typically assign two or more reviewers to each research paper. Some also employ a statistical specialist.

While the selection process differs, journals choose reviewers based on factors such as expertise, reputation and the journal’s prior experience with the reviewer. While it can be difficult to recruit scientists willing to examine manuscripts because of the time required for proper scrutiny, many do it because of “a sense of duty to help advance their disciplines, as well as the need for reciprocity, knowing other researchers volunteer to peer review their manuscript submissions,” Science magazine reported earlier this year .

Reviewers can make recommendations about whether a journal should accept, reject or send a paper back for minor or major revisions. Reviewers usually submit reports offering their overall impressions of a paper and suggestions for improvements. Most often, though, the final decision lies with one or more of the journal’s editors or its editorial board.

Inglis, a former assistant editor of The Lancet who is now a publisher of five peer-reviewed journals, says a common criticism of the peer-review process is its lengthy timeline, which can span from weeks to a year or more. Another complaint: Sometimes, journals send a study back and notify the authors that they would be willing to accept or reconsider the paper for publication if the authors do more research.

“Sometimes, the demands made are completely unrealistic,” Inglis adds. “The criticism from the authors is that editors don’t know that when they say ‘Do this additional experiment,’ that’s another year [added to the timeline]. Meanwhile, the work is perfectly valid.”

Inglis says bioRxiv (pronounced “bio-archive”) and medRxiv (pronounced “med-archive”) were created so researchers could disseminate preliminary versions of their papers, allowing the scientific community to immediately use and start building on those findings and data.

4. The peer-review process varies significantly among academic journals.

There are several kinds of peer review, and journals often state on their websites which one they use. The most common are single-blinded peer review, which allows reviewers to know the authors’ identities while reviewers’ identities remain anonymous, and double-blinded peer review, in which authors and reviewers are unaware of each other’s identities.

Both have advantages. Advocates argue anonymity protects reviewers from retribution. It also helps shield authors from biases based on factors such as gender, nationality, language and affiliations with less prestigious institutions, Tony Ross-Hellauer , a postdoctoral researcher at the Know-Center in Austria, writes in “ What is Open Peer Review? A Systematic Review ,” published on the European open access platform F1000Research in 2017.

Keeping identities secret can create problems, however.

“At the editorial level, lack of transparency means that editors can unilaterally reject submissions or shape review outcomes by selecting reviewers based on their known preference for or aversion to certain theories and methods,” Ross-Hellauer writes. He adds that reviewers, “shielded by anonymity, may act unethically in their own interests by concealing conflicts of interest.”

A newer type of peer review, called open peer review , is not as prevalent. But the scientific community has ongoing discussions about whether its greater transparency might help improve research quality.

While there is no universally accepted definition of open peer review, also known as open identity peer review, the identities of both authors and reviewers typically are made known to each other. Ross-Hellauer notes that disclosing reviewers’ names may force them “to think more carefully about the scientific issues and to write more thoughtful reviews.”

A growing number of journals are posting not just the papers they accept but also the feedback peer reviewers gave the papers’ authors.

5. Peer review continues to evolve.

Some journals have started initiating peer review after a paper is published instead of beforehand, although this still is not common. MedEdPublish , an online scholarly journal, is one of those that employ post-publication peer review . Its papers undergo peer review on the website by members of the medical education community, which could include the journal’s editor, members of its editorial board or a panel of reviewers.

Under the MedEdPublish model, a paper has undergone formal peer review after at least two members of the journal’s review panel evaluate it. The paper can be critiqued and improved over time as a living document on the journal website.

“Post-publication peer review follows an open and transparent process, which aims to avoid editorial bias while increasing the speed of publication,” according to the website. “We use an ‘open identities’ principle, whereby all reviewers submit their feedback publicly, under their own name, and everyone visiting an article page can see all peer review reports, referee names, and comments, and can join the discussion if they wish.”

Another noteworthy shift: Some journals are working to diversify their pools of reviewers by ensuring women, racial and ethnic minorities, and scientists from other countries help appraise and select studies for publication.

Research indicates the overwhelming majority of experts chosen as reviewers are men. A study published earlier this year in Science Advances examines internal data for 145 scholarly journals across fields and finds that women comprised 21% of their reviewers between 2010 and 2016. At journals dedicated to biomedical and health research, 24.6% of reviewers were women.

The Lancet medical journal has set targets for increasing the number of women and scientists from low- and middle-income countries, Sabin, one of its senior editors, wrote in an email interview with JR . In 2019, The Lancet family of journals announced its Diversity Pledge .

“We track, monitor, and report representation of authors, reviewers, and editorial advisors by gender and across geography,” Sabin told JR in an e-mail.

She added that the journal formed a task force late last year to, among other things, examine its policies and processes to find ways to increase the representation of experts who are racial and ethnic minorities.

The Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications has focused on the issue globally. More than 90 organizations have adopted the coalition’s Joint Statement of Principles , which aims to “promote involvement, innovation, and expanded access to leadership opportunities that maximize engagement across identity groups and professional levels.”

Identity groups include racial and sexual minorities, military veterans, pregnant women, parents and people from lower social classes and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The Journalist’s Resource would like to thank Rick Weiss, the director of SciLine, and Meredith Drosback, SciLine’s associate director of science, for their help in creating this tip sheet.

About The Author

Denise-Marie Ordway

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Topics: Peer Review

A guide that provides information and resources on teaching responsible conduct of research that focuses on the topic of peer review. Part of the Resources for Research Ethics Education collection.

What is Research Ethics

Why Teach Research Ethics

Animal Subjects

Biosecurity

Collaboration

Conflicts of Interest

Data Management

Human Subjects

Peer Review

Publication

Research Misconduct

Social Responsibility

Stem Cell Research

Whistleblowing

Descriptions of educational settings , including in the classroom, and in research contexts.

Case Studies

Other Discussion Tools

Information about the history and authors of the Resources for Research Ethics Collection

• The integrity of science depends on effective peer review A published paper reflects not only on the authors of that paper, but also on the community of scientists. Without the judgment of knowledgeable peers as a standard for the quality of science, it would not be possible to differentiate what is and is not credible.  
• Effective peer review depends on competent and responsible reviewers The privilege of being part of the research community implies a responsibility to share in the task of reviewing the work of peers.

For much of the last century, peer review has been the principal mechanism by which the quality of research is judged. In general, the most respected research findings are those that are known to have faced peer review. Most funding decisions in science are based on peer review. Academic advancement is generally based on success in publishing peer-reviewed research and being awarded funding based on peer review; further, it involves direct peer review of the candidate's academic career. In short, research and researchers are judged primarily by peers.

The peer-review process is based on the notion that, because much of academic inquiry is relatively specialized, peers with similar expertise are in the best position to judge one another's work. This mechanism was largely designed to evaluate the relative quality of research. However, with appropriate feedback, it can also be a valuable tool to improve a manuscript, a grant application, or the focus of an academic career. Despite these advantages, the process of peer review is hampered by both perceived and real limitations.

Critics of peer review worry that reviewers may be biased in favor of well-known researchers, or researchers at prestigious institutions, that reviewers may review the work of their competitors unfairly, that reviewers may not be qualified to provide an authoritative review, and even that reviewers will take advantage of ideas in unpublished manuscripts and grant proposals that they review. Many attempts have been made to examine these assumptions about the peer review process. Most have found such problems to be, at worst, infrequent (e.g., Abby et al., 1994; Garfunkel et al., 1994; Godlee et al., 1998; Justice et al., 1998; van Rooyen et al., 1998; Ward and Donnelly, 1998). Nonetheless, problems do occur.

Because the process of peer review is highly subjective, it is possible that some people will abuse their privileged position and act based on unconscious bias. For example, reviewers may be less likely to criticize work that is consistent with their own perceptions (Ernst and Resch, 1994) or to award a fellowship to a woman rather than a man (Wennerds and Wold, 1997). It is also important to keep in mind that peer review does not do well either at detecting innovative research or filtering out fraudulent, plagiarized, or redundant publications (reviewed by Godlee, 2000).

Despite its flaws, peer review does work to improve the quality of research. Considering the possible failings of peer review, the potential for bias and abuse, how can the process be managed so as to minimize problems while maintaining the advantages?

Regulations and Guidelines

Most organizations reviewing research have specific guidelines regarding confidentiality and conflicts of interest. In addition, many organizations and institutions have guidelines dealing explicitly with the responsibilities of peer reviewers, such as those of the American Chemical Society (2015), the Society for Neuroscience (1998, and the Council of Biology Editors (CBE Peer Review Retreat Consensus Group, 1995). And, there had been a federal requirement that made discussion of peer review part of instruction in the responsible conduct of research (National Institutes of Health, 2009).

Peer review is governed by federal regulations in two respects. First, federal misconduct regulations can be invoked if a reviewer seriously abuses the review process, and second, peer review for the grant process prohibits review by individuals with conflicts of interest.

Despite these regulations, much of peer review is not directly regulated. It is governed instead by guidelines and customs.

Case Study 1

Dr. George Adams receives a manuscript for ad hoc review from the editor of a scientific journal. George gives the manuscript to Al Nance, his senior postdoctoral fellow. He asks Al to read the manuscript and prepare some written comments critiquing it. One week later, Al provides to Dr. Adams one page of comments. Al also provides Dr. Adams with an extensive verbal critique of the paper. Dr. Adams then prepares a written review which is submitted to the editor of the scientific journal. A few weeks later, Dr. Adams learns that Al made photocopies of the entire literature citation section of the manuscript because it contained "some useful references". Dr. Adams proceeds to verbally reprimand Al, telling him that no part of a manuscript received for review should be copied. Comment on the behavior of both the faculty member and the postdoctoral fellow in this scenario.

Case Study 2

Dr. Taylor, an expert in the area of aging and mental health, agreed to review an unpublished manuscript for a leading journal. Although Dr. Taylor has limited time outside of his teaching and research activities, he found the article so interesting that he gathered some of his colleagues together to share the findings with them.

Case Study 3

Alana is a medical student researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Hayes. Prof. Hayes has received a manuscript for review for possible publication in a biomedical journal and asks Alana to review the manuscript. Alana knows that the review process is intended to be confidential, so she asks if the journal editor has been notified of this request. Prof. Hayes says that this is not necessary. Alana asks for your advice. Is Professor Hayes' answer (that notification is not necessary) ethical? Why or why not?

• Based on your own experience, or on discussion with someone who is an experienced reviewer, which of the following are common practice? Which of the following should not be acceptable practice?      a. The reviewer is not competent to perform a review but does so anyway.     b. Reviewer bias results in a negative review that is misleading or untruthful.     c. The reviewer delays the review or provides an unfairly critical review for the purpose of personal advantage.     d. The reviewer and his or her research group take advantage of privileged information to redirect research efforts.     e. The reviewer shares review material with others (for the purpose of training or scientific discussion) without notifying or obtaining approval from the editor or funding agency.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a reviewer blinded to the identity of manuscript authors, a grant applicant, or a candidate for academic advancement?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of having manuscript authors, a grant applicant, or a candidate for academic advancement blinded to the identity of a reviewer?
• What are the ethical responsibilities of peer reviewers?
• List and describe federal regulations relevant to peer review.
• Should reviewers working in the same field of research be excluded from reviewing each others' work? How can the risks of bias and the advantages of expertise be reconciled in the selection of peer reviewers?
• What are the responsibilities of a reviewer to preserve the confidentiality of work under review? What protections, if any, help to prevent the loss of confidentiality?

The purpose of peer review is not merely to evaluate the submitted work, but also to promote better work within the scientific community. As such, there are several essential responsibilities for peer reviews.

• Provide a timely response Reviewers should make every effort to complete a review in the time requested. If it is not possible to meet the conditions for the review, then the reviewer should promptly decline or see if some accommodation is possible. Research reports, grant applications, and academic files submitted for review all represent a significant investment of time and effort, and frequently the documents under review contain timely results that will suffer if delayed in the review process.  
• Ensure Competence Reviewers who realize that their expertise is limited have a responsibility to make their degree of competence clear to the editor, funding agency, or academic institution asking for their expert opinion. A reviewer who does not have the requisite expertise is at risk of approving a submission that has substantial deficiencies or rejecting one that is meritorious. Such errors are a waste of resources and hamper the scientific enterprise.  
• Avoid Bias Reviewers' comments and conclusions should be based on a consideration of the facts, exclusive of personal or professional bias. To the extent possible, the system of review should be designed to minimize actual or perceived bias on the reviewers' part. If reviewers have any interest that might interfere with an objective review, then they should either decline a role as reviewer or declare the conflict of interest to the editor, funding agency, or academic institution and ask how best to manage the conflict.  
• Maintain Confidentiality Material submitted for peer review is a privileged communication that should be treated in confidence. Material under review should not be shared or discussed with anyone outside the designated review process unless approved by the editor, funding agency, or academic institution. Authors, grant applicants, and candidates for academic review have a right to expect that the review process will remain confidential. Reviewers unsure about policies for enlisting the help of others should ask.  
• Avoid unfair advantage A reviewer should not take advantage of material available through the privileged communication of peer review. One exception is that if a reviewer becomes aware on the basis of work under review that a line of her or his own research is likely to be unprofitable or a waste of resources, then they may ethically discontinue that work (American Chemical Society, 2006; Society for Neuroscience, 1998. In such cases, the circumstances should be communicated to those who requested the review.  Beyond this exception, every effort should be made to avoid even the appearance of taking advantage of information obtained through the review process. Potential reviewers concerned that their participation would be a substantial conflict of interest should decline the request to review.  
• Offer constructive criticism Reviewers' comments should acknowledge positive aspects of the material under review, assess negative aspects constructively, and indicate clearly the improvements needed. The purpose of peer review is not to demonstrate the reviewer's proficiency in identifying flaws but to help the authors or candidates identify and resolve weaknesses in their work.
• Best Practices for Publishing Your Research An excellent online tutorial that discusses all aspects of preparing research for publication, including issues of peer review.  
• OEC Publication Ethics Bibliography A bibliography of materials on the ethics of publication, including peer review. Includes guidelines, websites, books, and journal articles.   
• Publication Ethics Subject Aid A short guide to some key resources and readings on the topic of publication ethics, including authorship, peer review, and collaboration.

Cited Resources

• Abby M, Massey MD, Galandiuk S, Polk HC (1994): Peer review is an effective screening process to evaluate medical manuscripts. JAMA 272: 105-107. 
• American Chemical Society (2015): Ethical guidelines to publication of chemical research. ACS Publications http://pubs.acs.org/userimages/ContentEditor/1218054468605/ethics.pdf
• CBE Peer Review Retreat Consensus Group (1995): Peer review guidelines - A working draft. CBE Views 18(5): 79-81. 
• Ernst E, Resch KL (1994): Reviewer bias: a blinded experimental study. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 124(2): 178-82. 
• Garfunkel JM, Ulshen MH, Hamrick HJ, Lawson EE (1994): Effect of institutional prestige on reviewers' recommendations and editorial decisions. JAMA 272: 137-138. 
• Godlee F, Gale CR, Martyn CN (1998): Effect on the quality of peer review of blinding reviewers and asking them to sign their reports. JAMA 280: 237-240. 
• Godlee F (2000): The ethics of peer review. In (Jones AH, McLellan F, eds.): Ethical Issues in Biomedical Publication. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, pp. 59-84. 
• Justice AC, Cho MK, Winker MA, Berlin JA, Rennie D, PEER Investigators (1998): Does masking author identity improve peer review quality? JAMA 280: 240-242. 
• National Institutes of Health (2009): Update on the Requirement for Instruction in Responsible Conduct of Research. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not-od-10-019.html
• Society for Neuroscience (1998): Responsible Conduct Regarding Scientific Communication. https://www.jneurosci.org/content/20/1/F5
• van Rooyen S, Godlee F, Evans S, Smith R, Black N (1998): Effect of blinding and unmasking on the quality of peer review. JAMA 280: 234-237. 
• Wennerds C, Wold A (1997):  Nepotism and sexism in peer review . Nature 307: 341.

The Resources for Research Ethics Education site was originally developed and maintained by Dr. Michael Kalichman, Director of the Research Ethics Program at the University of California San Diego. The site was transferred to the Online Ethics Center in 2021 with the permission of the author.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2055332. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Peer Review

• Animal Subjects
• Biosecurity
• Collaboration
• Conflicts of Interest
• Data Management
• Human Subjects
• Publication
• Research Misconduct
• Social Responsibility
• Stem Cell Research
• Whistleblowing
• Regulations and Guidelines
• The integrity of science depends on effective peer review A published paper reflects not only on the authors of that paper, but also on the community of scientists. Without the judgment of knowledgeable peers as a standard for the quality of science, it would not be possible to differentiate what is and is not credible.
• Effective peer review depends on competent and responsible reviewers The privilege of being part of the research community implies a responsibility to share in the task of reviewing the work of peers.

For much of the last century, peer review has been the principal mechanism by which the quality of research is judged. In general, the most respected research findings are those that are known to have faced peer review. Most funding decisions in science are based on peer review. Academic advancement is generally based on success in publishing peer-reviewed research and being awarded funding based on peer review; further, it involves direct peer review of the candidate's academic career. In short, research and researchers are judged primarily by peers.

The peer-review process is based on the notion that, because much of academic inquiry is relatively specialized, peers with similar expertise are in the best position to judge one another's work. This mechanism was largely designed to evaluate the relative quality of research. However, with appropriate feedback, it can also be a valuable tool to improve a manuscript, a grant application, or the focus of an academic career. Despite these advantages, the process of peer review is hampered by both perceived and real limitations.

Critics of peer review worry that reviewers may be biased in favor of well-known researchers, or researchers at prestigious institutions, that reviewers may review the work of their competitors unfairly, that reviewers may not be qualified to provide an authoritative review, and even that reviewers will take advantage of ideas in unpublished manuscripts and grant proposals that they review. Many attempts have been made to examine these assumptions about the peer review process. Most have found such problems to be, at worst, infrequent (e.g., Abby et al., 1994; Garfunkel et al., 1994; Godlee et al., 1998; Justice et al., 1998; van Rooyen et al., 1998; Ward and Donnelly, 1998). Nonetheless, problems do occur.

Because the process of peer review is highly subjective, it is possible that some people will abuse their privileged position and act based on unconscious bias. For example, reviewers may be less likely to criticize work that is consistent with their own perceptions (Ernst and Resch, 1994) or to award a fellowship to a woman rather than a man (Wennerds and Wold, 1997). It is also important to keep in mind that peer review does not do well either at detecting innovative research or filtering out fraudulent, plagiarized, or redundant publications (reviewed by Godlee, 2000).

Despite its flaws, peer review does work to improve the quality of research. Considering the possible failings of peer review, the potential for bias and abuse, how can the process be managed so as to minimize problems while maintaining the advantages?

Most organizations reviewing research have specific guidelines regarding confidentiality and conflicts of interest. In addition, many organizations and institutions have guidelines dealing explicitly with the responsibilities of peer reviewers, such as those of the American Chemical Society (2006), the Society for Neuroscience (1998, and the Council of Biology Editors (CBE Peer Review Retreat Consensus Group, 1995).And, though currently suspended, there had been a federal requirement that made discussion of peer review part of instruction in the responsible conduct of research (Office of Research Integrity, 2000).

Peer review is governed by federal regulations in two respects. First, federal misconduct regulations can be invoked if a reviewer seriously abuses the review process, and second, peer review for the grant process prohibits review by individuals with conflicts of interest.

Despite these regulations, much of peer review is not directly regulated. It is governed instead by guidelines and custom.

Case Studies

Discussion questions.

• Based on your own experience, or on discussion with someone who is an experienced reviewer, which of the following are common practice? Which of the following should not be acceptable practice?     a. The reviewer is not competent to perform a review, but does so anyway.     b. Reviewer bias results in a negative review that is misleading or untruthful.     c. The reviewer delays the review or provides an unfairly critical review for the purpose of personal advantage.     d. The reviewer and his or her research group take advantage of privileged information to redirect research efforts.     e. The reviewer shares review material with others (for the purpose of training or scientific discussion) without notifying or obtaining approval from the editor or funding agency.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a reviewer blinded to the identity of manuscript authors, a grant applicant, or a candidate for academic advancement?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of having manuscript authors, a grant applicant, or a candidate for academic advancement blinded to the identity of a reviewer?
• What are the ethical responsibilities of peer reviewers?
• List and describe federal regulations relevant to peer review.
• Should reviewers working in the same field of research be excluded from reviewing each others' work? How can the risks of bias and the advantages of expertise be reconciled in the selection of peer reviewers?
• What are the responsibilities of a reviewer to preserve the confidentiality of work under review? What protections, if any, help to prevent the loss of confidentiality?

Additional Considerations

The purpose of peer review is not merely to evaluate the submitted work, but also to promote better work within the scientific community. As such, there are several essential responsibilities for peer reviews.

• Provide a timely response Reviewers should make every effort to complete a review in the time requested. If it is not possible to meet the conditions for the review, then the reviewer should promptly decline or see if some accommodation is possible. Research reports, grant applications, and academic files submitted for review all represent a significant investment of time and effort, and frequently the documents under review contain timely results that will suffer if delayed in the review process.
• Ensure Competence Reviewers who realize that their expertise is limited have a responsibility to make their degree of competence clear to the editor, funding agency, or academic institution asking for their expert opinion. A reviewer who does not have the requisite expertise is at risk of approving a submission that has substantial deficiencies or rejecting one that is meritorious. Such errors are a waste of resources and hamper the scientific enterprise.
• Avoid Bias Reviewers' comments and conclusions should be based on a consideration of the facts, exclusive of personal or professional bias. To the extent possible, the system of review should be designed to minimize actual or perceived bias on the reviewers' part. If reviewers have any interest that might interfere with an objective review, then they should either decline a role as reviewer or declare the conflict of interest to the editor, funding agency, or academic institution and ask how best to manage the conflict.
• Maintain Confidentiality Material submitted for peer review is a privileged communication that should be treated in confidence. Material under review should not be shared or discussed with anyone outside the designated review process unless approved by the editor, funding agency, or academic institution. Authors, grant applicants, and candidates for academic review have a right to expect that the review process will remain confidential. Reviewers unsure about policies for enlisting the help of others should ask.
• Avoid unfair advantage A reviewer should not take advantage of material available through the privileged communication of peer review. One exception is that if a reviewers becomes aware on the basis of work under review that a line of her or his own research is likely to be unprofitable or a waste of resources, then they may ethically discontinue that work (American Chemical Society, 2006; Society for Neuroscience, 1998. In such cases, the circumstances should be communicated to those who requested the review. Beyond this exception, every effort should be made to avoid even the appearance of taking advantage of information obtained through the review process. Potential reviewers concerned that their participation would be a substantial conflict of interest should decline the request to review.
• Offer constructive criticism Reviewers' comments should acknowledge positive aspects of the material under review, assess negative aspects constructively, and indicate clearly the improvements needed. The purpose of peer review is not to demonstrate the reviewer's proficiency in identifying flaws, but to help the authors or candidates identify and resolve weaknesses in their work.
• Abby M, Massey MD, Galandiuk S, Polk HC (1994): Peer review is an effective screening process to evaluate medical manuscripts. JAMA 272: 105-107.
• American Chemical Society (2006): Ethical guidelines to publication of chemical research. ACS Publications http://pubs.acs.org/userimages/ContentEditor/1218054468605/ethics.pdf
• CBE Peer Review Retreat Consensus Group (1995): Peer review guidelines - A working draft. CBE Views 18(5): 79-81.
• Ernst E, Resch KL (1994): Reviewer bias: a blinded experimental study. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 124(2): 178-82.
• Garfunkel JM, Ulshen MH, Hamrick HJ, Lawson EE (1994): Effect of institutional prestige on reviewers' recommendations and editorial decisions. JAMA 272: 137-138.
• Godlee F, Gale CR, Martyn CN (1998): Effect on the quality of peer review of blinding reviewers and asking them to sign their reports. JAMA 280: 237-240.
• Godlee F (2000): The ethics of peer review. In (Jones AH, McLellan F, eds.): Ethical Issues in Biomedical Publication. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, pp. 59-84.
• Justice AC, Cho MK, Winker MA, Berlin JA, Rennie D, PEER Investigators (1998): Does masking author identity improve peer review quality? JAMA 280: 240-242.
• Office of Research Integrity (2000): PHS Policy on Instruction in RCR. http://ori.hhs.gov/policies/RCR_Policy.shtml
• Society for Neuroscience (1998): Responsible Conduct Regarding Scientific Communication. http://www.sfn.org/skins/main/pdf/Guidelines/ResponsibleConduct.pdf
• van Rooyen S, Godlee F, Evans S, Smith R, Black N (1998): Effect of blinding and unmasking on the quality of peer review. JAMA 280: 234-237.
• Wennerds C, Wold A (1997): Nepotism and sexism in peer review . Nature 307: 341.
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Posted by Chris M.

900 Best Research Paper Topics for College Students

When students start looking for research paper topics, it means that the deadline is already looming. They should hand in their written assignment soon, but they are completely out of ideas. It’s a frequent problem for everyone studying in college or university, which is why so many people search for online tips that could push them in the right direction. Top academic experts united their efforts to come up with many great paper topics for literally any subject. With the  help of writing services , you’ll be able to find the basis for your essay, something you’d enjoy exploring and your professor would like reading about.

Table of Contents

• Why Is Finding the Best Research Topic Important
• 4 Things to Keep in Mind When Choosing a Topic
• Topics for History
• IT & Technology
• Anthropology
• Engineering
• Easy Topics
• Healthcare and Medicine
• Natural Science
• Political Science
• Religion and Theology
• Communication Strategies
• Environmental Science
• Agriculture
• Communications and Media
• Social Science
• Architecture
• Advertising
• Social Media
• Get Writing Help

Why Is Finding the Best Research Topic Important?

So, why are good research paper topics essential? It’s much easier to just take a title from your professor’s list or use the first idea you thought of. Many students make this choice, and they end up regretting it because when there is no genuine interest, writing quality work is next to impossible. You should be personally invested for research to be exciting — this way, you won’t feel bored, and sharing facts that you found illuminating could also be refreshing. By searching for specific paper topics, you stand better chances at doing the work you like and getting high grades for it.

Four Things to Keep in Mind When You’re Choosing a Topic

As you’re scrolling down a list of research topics, you need to understand several things. Make sure you cover them all before making a final decision! Here they are.

Level of personal interest

Choose between topics you find most exciting. You’ll have to conduct research and learn more about them, so be sure you settle on a title that won’t make you fall asleep in the middle of an info search. Go with the option you deem best for yourself.

Required experience

Some people might be overly enthusiastic, hoping to impress their professors and choose something challenging. Be careful if you’re considering the same route. Some topics require a complex approach that involves many stages, so think about whether you have enough time and effort for it. Are you experienced enough for pulling something like this off, or will you be stuck once you’re working with particularly complex elements?

Available information

Are there enough information and date on your research essay topics? Finding out an answer to this is vital because sometimes students require 10 or more sources. If there aren’t enough of them or if they are not credible or new enough, it might be better to choose something easier.

Who are you writing a research paper for? Your professor will obviously be the main reader, but all in all, who is the general audience? Does it consist of people who know nothing about the topic or are they experts? You’ll need to define even basic concepts for the former and use more complex terminology and ideas for the latter.

Now that you know these tips, we can move on toward actual topics. We divided them into different subjects, so select the one you need. Take any title you want.

Good Research Topics for History

1) What Kind of US Founding Documents Exist?

2) Did George Armstrong Custer Do More Good or Bad?

3) White Privilege Overrated or Underrated?

4) Research Three Early Civilizations

5) What Was the Bloodiest Civil War?

6) Offer a New Look at Reasons for Great Depression

7) Trace Changes in Women’s Rights Starting with 17thCentury

8) Should Be Studying World History Obligatory?

9) Discuss Historical Relations between America and Japan

10) How Did Japanese People Treat Buddhism in the Past vs. Now?

11) Is Constitution Necessary for Confederation?

12) Can Forced Sterilization of Women Be Ever Justified?

13) How Would the World Without Hiroshima & Nagasaki Attacks Look Like?

14) How Could an Average Person Benefit from International Human Rights?

15) How Has the American Revolution Started?

16) The Latest Civil War in the US

17) Outline Timeline For American History: Describe Core Events

18) Reasons For & Fight Against Rwandan Genocide

19) What Are International Human Rights?

20) Role of Morality in Politics

21) Explain How Colombian Interchange Appeared

22) Why Did Cold War Stop?

23) Why Did the Roman Empire Fall?

24) Can Every American Count on Justice?

25) Will Germany Ever Recover Its Reputation?

26) What Are Popular Russian Revolutions?

27) How Could Ghana Become More Developed?

28) What Is Emancipation Proclamation?

29) Most Relevant Event in World History

30) Could the Battle of the Bulge Have Had a Different Outcome?

Art Research Topic Ideas

31) Explore Theosophy In Relation to Kandinsky

32) Are Healing Rituals Relevant These Days?

33) What Differentiates Islamic Calligraphy From Others?

34) Pick Your Favorite Art Piece and Describe It

35) What Basics Facts Should Everyone Know about the Harlem Renaissance?

36) What Are Visual Depictions of Buddhism?

37) Three Main Art Movements in Japan

38) Should Architecture Be Considered Art?

39) Fashion Week & Globalization

40) What Made Cubism Popular?

41) Role of Art in the Chinese Revolution

42) What Major Inspiration Source Did Pablo Picasso Have?

43) The Biggest Pyramid in Egypt

44) Is Choosing Art as Career Viable?

45) Explore Less Known Facts about Leonardo da Vinci

46) When and Why Did Italian Renaissance Start?

47) Should Art Be Morally Correct?

48) Input of Jackson Pollock into Art

49) Is Swastika Purely a Nazi Symbol?

50) Foundation of Latin American Dancing

51) How Has Chinese Art Changed After the Cultural Revolution?

52) Should Books Be Regarded as Art?

53) What Represents Roman Art?

54) Research Martin Luther as a Person

55) Most Popular Art Form in China

56) What Makes Frida Kahlo Famous Even Now?

57) How Did Ancient Greek Art Develop?

58) Your Opinion on Federico Fellini

59) Evolution of Japanese Ceramics

60) Does Religion Have a Place in Art?

Best Research Topics on Psychology

61) Is It Possible to Correctly Self-Diagnose Oneself with Bipolar Disorder?

62) What Causes Relationship Insecurity in Adolescents?

63) Which Elements Should Stress Management Program Have?

64) How Is Insanity Defense Structured?

65) Two Most Effective Treatments for PTSD

66) Apart from Dogs Experiment, What Is Special About Ivan Pavlov?

67) How Should Police Officers Manage Stress?

68) Difference between Sexual Dysfunction & Disease

69) Is Sobriety Support Effective?

70) Is Faking Insanity Plea Possible?

71) Is Social Psychology Based More on Practice or Theory?

72) Strategies for Eliminating Behavior Issues

73) Explore 5 Features Borderline Personality Disorder Has

74) What Is Short-Term Memory Responsible For?

75) How Leadership Styles Differ Based on Gender

76) Is Pedophilia a Physical or Mental Disorder?

77) Using Fiction to Cope with Childhood Sexual Trauma

78) How Objective Is Career Counseling?

79) How Is Self-Esteem Determined Based on Culture?

80) Effects Divorce Has on Children

81) Does Stress Lead to Obesity?

82) Who Does Positive Psychotherapy Work On?

83) What People Volunteer in Mental Health Centers?

84) Becoming Deaf: Psychological & Physiological Effects

85) Is Group Therapy Better than Individual Therapy?

86) Populations Most Vulnerable to Suicide

87) What Makes Psychology Universal?

88) How Does Cognition Differ from Emotion?

89) Is Increasing Empathy Possible?

90) Does Human Sexuality Differ from Animal One?

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Accounting Research Project Ideas

91) Why Should Inventory Be Audited?

92) How Is Audit Quality Determined?

93) Research American Revenue Recognition Standards

94) How Is Deontology Applied in Accounting?

95) Compare Accounting Operations in Different Countries

96) Two Methods for Discovering Financial Fraud

97) Role of Cloud Computing in Assessing Sales

98) What Factors Affect Budget Formation?

99) Explain Internal Audit to Newbies

100) Role of Resource Planning in Firms

101) Is Offshore Accounting Secure?

102) What Do Federal Taxes Cover?

103) Offer Strategies for Increasing Revenue of Any Beverage Company

104) Would You Like to Work in Financial Accounting?

105) Research Problems Emerging in Accounting

106) Is Planning Spending In Advance Important?

107) American Airlines and Its Current Financial Management

108) Are UAE or US Organizations More Sustainable?

109) If Strategic Management Accounting Fails, Will the Firm Collapse?

110) What Ethical Principles Underlie Accounting?

111) Explore the Link between Accounting and Post-Retirement Benefits

112) What Accounting Positions Exist?

113) Who Financial Statements Target?

114) Conduct Theoretical Auditing of Any Shop

115) Signs of Ineffective Cost Management System

IT & Technology Research Paper Ideas

116) What Are Agile Methodologies & Why Are They Useful?

117) What Information Governance Tactics Are Used to Secure Data in Healthcare?

118) Risks Posed by IT: Business Vulnerabilities

119) How Do We Understand Information Systems in the 21st Century?

120) Is Making Programming Secure Possible?

121) Should Computer Science Be an Obligatory School Class?

122) Research Various Kinds of Online Crimes

123) How Technology Affects Sport

124) Did Leadership Practices Become Transparent With Technology?

125) Are There Any 100% Safe Encryption Tools?

126) Does Internet Communication Create Loneliness or Do Lonely People Use It?

127) Is Solving Crimes Easier Now?

128) Verge between Cybersecurity & Ethics

129) Goals of Strategic Leadership

130) Tumblr as Underappreciated Social Network

131) How to Make Sure Medical Devices Are Secure?

132) Smartphone vs. iPhone

133) Ways of Stealing Personally Identifiable Information & Protection Methods

134) How Is Nanotechnology Used in Medicine?

135) Is Cloud Secure?

136) What Technologies Are Vital for Small Businesses?

137) Who Develops IT Strategies?

138) What Are Routing Algorithms For?

139) Must Programmers Have Practical Development Skills Before Being Hired?

140) Has Cybersecurity Improved or Worsened Online Safety?

141) Most Popular Computer Crime in America

142) Solutions Plan for IT Sector in 2023

143) How Developed Is IT in Russia?

144) How Do Hackers Choose Their Victims?

145) What Would Your Custom Built Computer Be Like?

146) Principles Underlying Blockchain Technology

147) What Ethics Principles Regulate Computer Development?

148) Cause and Effect Paper: Impact Telecommunication Has on E-Commerce

149) What Makes Linux a Leader?

150) Vulnerability of Android Products

151) Could Analytics Become Market Advantage?

152) Research One Encryption Tool

153) How Many Stages Does Project Management Have?

154) Is Incognito Mode Safe?

155) Do Video Games Help Enhance Programming skills?

Research Papers Topics Ideas On Nursing

156) Tactics for Preventing Cardiovascular Disease

157) Are Simulators Useful in Nursing Education?

158) How Does Advance Nursing Differ From Other Forms?

159) Is Childhood Obesity More Prevalent in Low or High-Income Families?

160) Qualities Good Nurse Practitioners Should Possess

161) Is Outdoor Public Smoking Ban Effective?

162) Disadvantages Presented by Obamacare

163) Should Nurse Practitioners Create Business Plans?

164) How Many Students Effectively Adapt to Becoming Registered Nurses?

165) Should Advanced Practice Nursing Be a Top Ambition for All Nurses?

166) Why Is Nursing Relevant for You?

167) How Could Low-Income Families Cope with Diabetes?

168) Research Latest Emerging Technologies in Healthcare

169) How Is HIPAA Integrated within the Digital World?

170) Antipsychotic Medication and Weight Gain in Adolescents

171) Identify Top Three Problems in Local Community

172) What Asthma Elements Could Be Managed?

173) Research Any Nursing Theory & Explain Why It is the Best

174) What Are Common Surgical Errors?

175) Propose Replacements for Ineffective Healthcare Policies

Technology College Research Paper Topics

176) Useful Skills for Creating Good Database Design

177) Value of Intrusion Detection Systems

178) Assess RCTs: Do They Work?

179) Explore Profit Margins of Firms Engaging in E-Commerce

180) What Are Core Cybersecurity Policies?

181) Does the Internet Give More Chances for Active Learning?

182) Suggest Ways for Improving Work Environment via Technology

183) Should Cell Phones Be Forbidden in Schools?

184) What Differentiates Apple Inc. From Other Firms?

185) How Does Nanotechnology Change Our World?

186) What New Technology Could Be Invented in the Next 10 Years?

187) How Much Does Science Affect Technology?

188) Is Wireless Connection More Convenient or Risky?

189) Why Do Aircraft Failures Keep Happening?

190) Electric Vehicles in Europe: Supply & Demand

191) Are There Any Real Dangers in Artificial Intelligence?

192) Could All Large Cities Start Using Wind Energy?

Anthropology: Interesting Topics to Research

193) How Are Etymology Data Drawn?

194) Who Is Nicholas Vasilieff & What Are His Contributions?

195) What Is Political Anthropology Based On?

196) Trace Development of Feminism Values Over Decades

197) How Could Comparative Politics Benefit Society?

198) Who Caused Cambodian Genocide & Why?

199) How Did Current Indigenous Tribes Survive?

200) Attitudes to Breastfeeding and How It Evolved in States

201) Link between Sexuality and Anthropology

202) How Do Cultures Determine Attitudes to Tobacco?

203) Research How Excavation at Morgantown Happened

204) What Was Nazis’ Selection Hypothesis?

205) Origins of Nigerian Society

206) Anthropology of War: What, Why, & When

207) Is There a Definite Theory on Human Origins?

208) How Are Muslims Treated in the West?

209) Research Human Rights Progress in the Philippines

210) Is There Evidence Supporting Mermaids’ Existence?

211) Could All World Cultures Mix Into One?

212) Explore Personal Ethnographic Experience

Engineering Topic for Research Paper

213) The Latest Aviation Innovations

214) What Transport Is Most Environmentally Sustainable?

215) Research Alternative Kinds of Fuels

216) What Could Seismology Help People Do?

217) Could Robots Be Trusted to Perform Neurosurgery?

218) Which Algorithms Are Included Into Smart Elevators?

219) What Is the Best Sensor for Smartphones?

220) How Could Solar Tools Become More Widespread?

221) Why Do We Need Electromagnetic Launchers?

222) When Is Acid Activation Applied?

223) How Safe Is Laser Treatment?

224) Which Tools Are a Must in Neurosurgery?

225) Why Do Children Love Electromagnetic Toys?

226) How Reliable Are Modern Navigation Systems in Ships?

227) Stages of Machine Learning Organization

228) Research Evolution of Tools That Helped in Car Plate Detection

229) How Often Does Human Factor Lead to Accidents in Aviation?

230) Lessons Learned After The Chernobyl Accident

231) How Profitable Is Wind Energy Industry?

232) Building Secure Gas Condensate Reservoirs

233) Most Significant Breakthrough In Automotive Industry

234) Who Are Prominent People in Software Engineering?

235) Compare Electrical Engineering with Other Engineering Kinds

236) Does Underwater Detection Hurt Animals?

237) Ethics of Genetic Engineering

238) Deadliness of Pneumatic Systems

239) Civil vs. Electrical Engineering

240) New Developments in Aircraft Engine Models

241) Impact Remote Surgery Has on Patients

Easy Research Paper Topics for English

242) ‘The Awakening’ Book: What Inspired the Author?

243) Analyze "Tears, Idle Tears" & Its Descriptive Elements

244) How Does Immigration Affect American Education?

245) Ways for Eliminating Racism Entirely

246) What Are Different Types of Plagiarism?

247) Bigfoot Legends: Where Do They Originate?

248) Could Online Education Be Effective?

249) Do Education Values Still Hold Strong?

250) Moral Dilemma in ‘Sophie’s Choice’

251) Should English Be the Official Language Everywhere?

252) How Did Bernie Sanders Affect America?

253) How Old Is English in Comparison to Other Languages?

254) Compare British vs. American Accent

255) What Should Drinking Age Be in the United States?

256) Is Gap Year a Purely American Habit?

257) Why Do Many Foreigners Dislike American Talk Shows?

258) Explore English Understanding of Motherhood

259) How Do British Authorities Handle Animal Cruelty?

260) English Teaching Methods for Managing Classroom

261) Why Is America Obsessed with Sport?

262) Are Americans Happy?

263) Why Are English-Speaking Countries Producing Most Top Technologies?

264) What Makes Shakespeare a Beloved Author?

265) Popular Literary Devices in English Poems

266) Is United States the Best Country for Athletes?

Healthcare and Medicine Research Papers Topics for College

267) What Diets Could Help Maintain Healthy Weight?

268) Is Passive Smoking a Real Thing?

269) Research Theories on Sudden Infant Death

270) What Sectors Does Public Health Consist Of?

271) Smartphone Usage in Hospitals: Effective or Distracting?

272) Are All People with Cardiovascular Diseases Treated Equally?

273) Explain Public Law 111

274) Does Environmental Protection Help Improve Health?

275) Foundation of Patient-Centered Care

276) Drawbacks that Electronic Health Records Have

277) How Does Epidemiology Contribute to Health Awareness?

278) Could Alcoholism Be Passed to Children?

279) Best Nutrition for Pregnant Women

280) How Long Will Covid-19 Last?

281) Patient Abuse in Healthcare Setting

282) How Important Is Screening for Depression?

283) Which Innovations Could Emerge Soon?

284) Is Physical Training Obligatory for Children?

285) Abuse of Nurses by Patients

286) Are Latin Americans More Predisposed to Heart Disease?

287) In Which Cases Is Immunization Effective?

Music Research Paper Topics

288) Why Tchaikovsky’s Music Memorable?

289) Does Music Positively Affect Embryos?

290) Role Robert Schumann Played in Music History

291) Music That Americans Prefers

292) Research Music of the 1700s

293) Stereotypes Surrounding Rap Music

294) Should Have Bob Marley Be Saved Forcibly?

295) What Is Mozart Most Known For?

296) Define Classical Music From Contemporary Perspective

297) Compare Thomas Adès with Alexander Goehr

298) Politics in Bob Marley’s Music

299) Analyze Any Piece of Jimi Hendrix

300) Achievements of Lil Wayne

301) Assess Theories on Mozart’s Death

302) Depiction of Jazz in ‘Soul’ Computer Film

303) The Greatest Vivaldi Piece

304) How Is Music Affected by Politics?

305) What Music Do People in Southern Italy Like?

306) Does Hip-Hop Have Musical Value?

307) Should Musical Training Be Mandatory?

Natural Science Research Paper Questions

308) What Makes Atmospheric Blocking Dangerous?

309) Humanity vs. Nature: Who Would Win?

310) Could HIV/STD Be Eliminated Entirely?

311) COVID-19 Vaccination side effects

312) What Is Science Teaching Philosophy? Use Your College as an Example

313) Extinction of Megafauna in America: Causes

314) Physical Activity among Individuals with Down's Syndrome

315) Purpose Behind Food Labels

316) Are All Sexualities Natural?

317) The Effects of Drugs on Reproductive Behavior

318) Should There Be a Cure for Every Disease?

319) Does Marine Transportation Cause More Harm or Good?

320) Reasons for Rejection of Global Warming

321) Why Is Climate Change Bad?

322) Why Is There Still No Cure for Cancer?

323) Is Time Travel a Scientific Possibility?

324) Why Do We Need Water Recycling?

325) Why Great Lakes Could Disappear

326) Research Dental Hygiene

327) Does Humanity Need Birds?

Philosophy Research Paper Topics

328) Is Believing in God the Same as Believing in Unicorns?

329) Link between Environment and Anthropocentric

330) Why Religion Attracts a Huge Number of Criminals

331) How Do Japanese Beliefs Differ from American?

332) Will Need for Religion Ever Evaporate?

333) Ethics vs. Aesthetics

334) What Is Righteousness?

335) Blurring between Normalcy & Disability

336) Libertarianism vs. Determinism

337) Materialism vs. Dualism

338) Do We Have Free Will?

339) What Similarities Do All Religions Have?

340) Empiricism vs. Rationalism

341) Where Do 9/11 Conspiracies Come From?

342) Is There Only One Correct Solution to Any Moral Conflict?

343) What Is a Universal Concept of Love?

344) Your Ethics Framework

345) Research Power Control Theory

346) What Is Theology?

347) Could We All Ever Get Justice?

Political Science Paper Research Topics

348) Strategies for Determining Media Bias

349) What Environmental Protection Problems Does America Face?

350) Compare Election Rights Across Countries

351) Current Conflict between U.S. and Russia

352) How Politics Affect Sporting Events

353) Who Benefits from Stereotypes in Saudi Arabia?

354) Why Was DARE Created?

355) Do Political Volunteers Secretly Make Money?

356) Could Child Abuse Improve with More Governmental Involvement?

357) Influence of Government on Healthcare

358) How Did Russian Autocracy End?

359) Effective Congress Memo: What Is It?

360) Tasks Armed Forces Have

361) How Unbiased Are Political Appointees?

362) Diplomacy as the Best Way for Ending War

363) How Terrorism Could Be Stopped?

364) North Korea as Country That Needs to be Saved

365) Are There Any Positive Trump Achievements?

366) Is Ukraine Considered an EU Country?

367) Political Correctness vs. Censorship

Religion and Theology Paper Topics

368) How Do You Understand Sikhism?

369) Three Cores of Buddhism

370) How Buddhism Correlates with Treatment of Women in India?

371) How Relevant Is Gospel Today?

372) Changes in Catholicism Over the Years

373) Are There Documented Instances of Spirit Possession?

374) Why Is Christianity the Largest Religion?

375) Place of Egyptian Myths in Religion

376) Differences between Buddhism in China & Japan

377) Does Church Abuse Social Media?

378) Why Are There So Many Stereotypes About Islam?

379) Compare John the Baptist with Jesus

380) Has Papacy Become Redundant?

381) Why Is Premarital Sex Considered Wrong in Many Religions?

382) What Populations Suffer from Religious Discrimination Most?

Sociology Research Paper Topics

383) Goals Behind Social Research

384) How Could Social Theories Be incorporated Into Practice?

385) What Is Institutional Racism?

386) Why Do More Women Grow Interested in Plastic Surgery?

387) How Could Gang Crime Be Reduced?

388) Corruption in Foreign Aid Organization

389) What Shapes Conduct Disorder?

390) Is Marriage Institution Obsolete?

391) Is Gender a Social Construct?

392) Stereotypes about Working Class

393) Social Challenges Egypt Faces

394) Things Affecting Health Through Lifecycle

395) Ethical Issues Human Rights Organizations Encounter

396) How Are Immigrant Children Treated in China?

397) Where Is Racial Discrimination Most Prevalent?

398) Where Do Transgender Disputes Originate?

Biology Research Paper Topics

399) Why Cryptosporidium can be Found in Liquids?

400) Why Is Plant Breeding Essential?

401) Did Cancer Become a More Urgent Problem in the 21st Century?

402) Ways of Ensuring Biological Warfare

403) Research Human Digestive System: What Processes Are Present?

404) Implications of Molecular Genetics for People

405) Formation of Oncogenes

406) Is Stem Cell Research Overrated?

407) Factors Affecting Microbial Growth

408) Why Is Red Wolf Endangered?

409) Smoking Should Be Banned Worldwide

410) What Does Physiology Comprise?

411) Explore The Latest Biotechnology Tool

412) How Cell Cycle Affects Cancer Emergence

413) Connection between Oral Health & Overall Health

Communication Strategies Paper Research Topics

414) How Should Friendly Email Look Like?

415) Role Community Plays in Securing Environment Sustainability

416) Foundation for Productive Relationships

417) What Is Effective Public Speaking?

418) Why Are Many Parent Communities Toxic?

419) What Do People Understand Under Creativity?

420) When Does Silence Become Awkward?

421) Ensuring Perfect Communication at the Workplace

422) Principles Underlying Mass Communication

423) Workplace in 2031

424) Are There Universal Communication Rules?

425) Who Are Negotiators & What Education They Receive

426) Strategies for Succeeding with Intercultural Communication

427) How Does Business Communication Differ From Personal One?

428) Elaborate on High Context Communication

Environmental Science Research Paper Ideas

429) Local Aspects of Environmental Law in Your City

430) How Do Nature Issues Affect Our Mental Health?

431) How Often Do Massive Environmental Changes Occur?

432) Research Impact of Nuclear Wastes

433) Does Environment Benefit from Humans?

434) How Renewable Energy Benefits the UAE?

435) What Is Urban Law Responsible For?

436) Acid Pollution & Coal Mines

437) Most Urgent Global Environmental Issue

438) What Causes Chinese Smog?

439) Generating Geothermal Energy

440) What Soft Power Does Japan Have?

441) Describe Elements of Green Buildings

442) What Causes Atmospheric Instability?

443) Strategies for Ideal Land Use

444) Do Pesticides Make Food Poisonous?

445) How Does One Single Plastic Bottle Affect Environment?

446) Which Countries Have Nuclear Power Plants & Why?

447) Connect Global Environment to Urbanization

448) How Would the Perfect Healthy Town Look Like?

Finance Research Paper Topics

449) Why Is Blockchain a Difficult Concept to Understand?

450) What Goals Does Brand Assessment Pursue?

451) Explain What Microfinance Is

452) Preventing Information Leaks in the US

453) Evaluate Corporate Performance of Two Different Entities

454) Best Outcomes Competitor Analysis Produces

455) What Qualities Are Needed for Shaping Effective Business Model?

456) Suggest Ways for Making College Financial Reporting Integrated

457) Major Factors in Organizational Performance Assessment

458) How Do Sports Clubs Make Money?

459) Perform SWOT Analysis of Any Firm

460) Research How International Sales Are Calculated

461) Who Could Be Trusted to Oversee Budget Planning?

462) What Is the Optimal Financial Ratio?

463) Compare Real Estate Profits Across States

464) Responsibilities of Corporate Finance Manager

465) What Is Behavioral Finance?

466) How Could a Small Start-Up Ensure Financing?

467) What Funding Does Public Education Receive?

468) Who Are Stakeholders?

469) Making Sure Investment Report Isn’t Fabricated

470) Apple Financial Analysis

Education Paper Research Topics

471) Could education Help Fight Sex Trafficking?

472) Disadvantages of Early Childhood Education

473) Does Technology Make Classroom Behavior More Destructive?

474) How Should ESL Students Be Assessed?

475) Ideal Assessment For Special Needs Students

476) Do You Support Gamification?

477) Should All Colleges Be Free?

478) Student Intervention Plans: What Is It?

479) Community vs. Private College

480) Is Preschool Education Vital?

481) Will e-learning Become Even More Popular?

482) Best Age for Sex Education

483) What Characterizes Special Education?

484) How Did Cell Phones Facilitate Academic Cheating?

Marketing Paper Research Topics

485) Digital Marketing in Luxury Sector

486) Could Any Goods Be Marketed?

487) Compose Ideal Marketing Plan

488) What Is Marketing Matrix Used For?

489) Hiring the Best Marketing Team

490) Explain 4 P’s Principle

491) Case Study of How Social Media Affects Firms’ Visibility

492) Is Social Media Relevant in Sport Promotion?

493) Qualities Marketing Experts Must Possess

494) What Makes Marketing Campaign Creative

495) How Is Market Segmentation Done?

496) Is International Marketing Significantly More Complex Than Local One?

497) Is Targeting Minorities Beneficial?

498) How Does Consumer Behavior Evolve?

499) Perform Any Marketing Campaign Analysis

500) Has Dove Lost Its Popularity?

501) Are Marketing Theories Useful or Does Only Practice Matter?

502) What Differentiates Advanced Marketing?

503) How Are Targeted Advertisements Improved?

504) Peculiarities of Millennials-Focused Campaigns

Physics Research Paper Topics

505) Sonography: Explore Impedance Concept

506) How Was Electromagnetism Discovered?

507) Why Do Many Students Hate Physics?

508) Which Light Could Replace Contact with Sun Rays?

509) What Is TEG Emergency Supply?

510) Explain How Time Travel Could Be Made Possible

511) Three Concepts From Physics We Use Daily

512) Research Quintessence Theory

513) How Does Motor Development Occur?

514) What Makes Roller Coasters Safe?

515) Present Your Take on Dark Matter

516) Skills Needed for Being a Physicist

517) What Possibilities Did 3D Quantitative Ultrasound Bring?

518) Can We Feel Physical Waves?

519) Is Quantum Physics the Most Complex Physics Branch?

Geology Research Paper Topics

520) What Makes You Interested in Geology?

521) Geologic History California Has

522) Measuring Earthquake Activity

523) How Do Rifts Occur?

524) Offer Your Take On Plate Tectonics

525) Is Yellowstone Truly Dangerous?

526) Propose a Universal Soil Protection Method

527) Could Ocean Reefs Disappear Entirely?

528) Is Natural Selection Morally Justifiable?

529) Research the Smallest Sea

Statistics Research Paper Topics

530) How Does GPA Affect MBA Salaries?

531) List with The Worst Habits Most Students Acquire During Studies

532) Inspiring Statistics for Businessmen

533) How Does Unemployment Influence Crime Rates?

534) Does Higher GDP Improve Lives?

535) Is Running Better During Cold or Warm Weather?

536) Animals Should Not Be Bred When There Are So Many of Them Already

537) What Makes Statistics Reliable?

538) Facts Proving Female Inequality

539) How Acute Is Racism in Canada?

540) Does Chocolate Really Improve Mood?

541) Value of Statistics in Clinical Settings

542) How Could Society Benefit From Disclosure of Government Statistics?

543) Call of Duty vs. Dota: Which Is More Popular?

544) What Crime Is Most Common in the US?

Agriculture Research Paper Topics

545) What Positively Affects Soil Phosphorus Levels?

546) What Do Most People Understand Under ‘Agriculture’?

547) Describe Harm Caused by GMO

548) Why Do Farmers Need Crop Rotation?

549) What Agroforestry Policies Need Changes?

550) Is Organic Food Really Healthier?

551) Why Fish Farming Must Be Stopped

552) Ensuring Food Security in Africa

553) Should Food Labels Be Absolutely Transparent?

554) What Health Issues Do Plants Have?

555) Research Your Local Food Movement

556) Is GMO or Organic Food Tastier?

557) How Could Agriculture Be Improved?

558) The Future of Dairy Industries

559) Is It Acceptable to Use Recycled Wastewater?

560) List Common Environmental Threats

561) Why Are Many Agricultural Societies Against Urbanization?

562) Stopping Cattle Trading

563) What Habitats Should Be Preserved?

564) How Is Food Distributed in North Korea?

Astronomy Research Paper Topics

565) How Secretive Are Space Missions?

566) Is the Solar System Understandable to Human Mind?

567) How Possible Is Life on Mars?

568) Is There Move Evidence of Extraterrestrial Life Or Its Absence?

569) Would You Like to Travel to Space?

570) Do Space Explorations Justify Their Costs?

571) Occultist Beliefs of Giordano Bruno

572) What Objects Float in the Kuiper Belt?

573) Assess the Big Bang Theory

574) Was Moon Landing Real?

575) Present Your Moon Phase Observation

576) Should Robots Explore Space Instead of Humans?

577) Would be Contacting Aliens a Positive Experience?

578) Biggest NASA Failures

579) How Astronomers Promote Lies

580) Role of Females in Astronomy

581) What Do Satellites Do?

Business Research Paper Topics

582) How Is Air Cargo Controlled?

583) Understanding Body Language in Business Interactions

584) How Viable Is Corporate Social Responsibility?

585) Business Ethics of Nestle

586) What Are Recent Business Breakthroughs?

587) Analyze Your Preferred Job Market

588) What Components Does Audit Report Have?

589) Does Samsung Have Competitive Advantage?

590) Explain What Data Warehousing Design Means

591) Will All Technology Be Cloud-Based?

592) How Do Infrastructure Developments Improve Our Security?

593) Is Employee Performance Harmful to Self-Esteem?

594) Does Embracing Multiculturalism Help Raise Profits?

595) Strategies for Merging Firms Effectively

596) Could Anyone Become CEO?

597) What Is Joint Application System?

598) Is External or Internal Workplace Environment More Important?

599) Is Google Leadership Ethical?

600) Are Project Risks Usually Justified or Not? Present Statistics

601) Ways of Expanding Business Globally

Communications and Media Research Paper Topics

602) Misrepresentation of Sexuality in Modern Movies

603) Do Any Media Depictions Increase Crime Rates?

604) Has Cyberbullying Become Worse or Better?

605) Could Social Media Help Make Teens More Self-Confident?

606) Is Alcoholism Getting Worse Because of Its Promotion on Social Media?

607) Could Mass Shootings Stop with More Education?

608) How Does Persuasion Work?

609) Stereotypes Around Intercultural Dating

610) What Inspires People to Engage in Cosplay?

611) Should Every Person Have a Cell Phone?

612) Building Relationship with Foster Children

613) What Is Modern Information Ecology?

614) Does the U.S. Have the Right to Interfere in Other Countries’ Affairs?

615) Best Communication Strategies

616) Media-Only Products: What Is Their Future?

Law Research Paper Topics

617) Is Defunding Police a Viable Solution?

618) Who Are the Primary Victims of Smuggling?

619) Modern Purposes Behind Social Justice

620) Should Endangered Species Be Traded?

621) What Major Sources of Influence Are Juveniles Exposed To?

622) What Does Law Moot Court Decide?

623) Issues Covered in Family Law

624) Which Rules Guide International Sales?

625) Two Specialty Courts in America

626) Can Any Person Sale Gas?

627) Should Rape Be Punished Harsher?

628) Is Juvenile Detention Really Helpful?

629) Who Commits Corporate Crime?

630) Does Discretion Include Hiding Info From Law Enforcement?

631) Explain Equity Concept

632) All Stages Involved in Crime Investigation

633) Is Airports Screening Reliable?

634) Ineffectiveness of Crime Prevention

635) State with the Worst Crime Statistics

636) Compare Criminal Law in US vs. China

Geography Research Paper Topics

637) Discuss Causes of Sichuan Earthquake

638) Who Benefits From Ethnic Segregation?

639) Trace Changes in Victoria Falls

640) Why Is Cape Town Popular?

641) Is Drinking Water in California Safe?

642) Explore Psychology Behind Geographical Divisions

643) What Road Trips Aren’t Safe?

644) Present Consequences of Deforestation

645) Major Geographical Changes From Ancient World Till Now

646) Link between Geography & Population

647) Could Landscape Determine Nature of Location?

648) What Makes People Leave South

649) Unique Structure of The Great Lakes

650) Present Geographical Report on Austria

651) Problems Caused by Colonialism

Literature Research Paper Topics

652) Analyze Setting in Tey's "The Daughter of Time”

653) How Were Women Depicted in Medieval Era Literature?

654) Genre “Twilight” Falls Into

655) Research Tolkien’s Legacy

656) Perform Rhetorical Analysis on “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”

657) Should Students Still Read “Scarlet Letter”?

658) Life & Death Exploration in Dickinson's Poetry

659) Stylistic Techniques in Edgar Allan Poe's Stories

660) Position on "Lolita"

661) Is Hemingway’s Style Too Dry?

662) Literary Analysis of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”

663) Explore How Love Is Depicted in King’s “Lisey’s Story”

664) Are Aeneid and Odyssey Still Relevant?

665) Myth & Truth in King Arthur Stories

666) Best Chapter in "Gulliver's Travels"

667) What Is Folklore & Its Value?

668) Your Favorite James Joyce's Story

669) Depiction of American Childhood in Mark Twain’s Stories

670) Is Realism an Objectively Interesting Genre?

671) Why Is Kafka's Metamorphosis Popular?

672) Agatha Christie's Books Are Outdated

Math Research Paper Topics

673) Could Chaos Theory Be Used in Daily Life?

674) Explain Basics of Black-Scholes Equation

675) Could Creative People Have Excellent Math Skills?

676) Explaining Derivation to Children

677) What Is CEV Model & When Is It Used?

678) Where Is Graph Theory Applied?

679) Is Quantitative or Qualitative Research More Important?

680) Why Is Riemann Hypothesis Considered a Hypothesis?

681) Mathematics Applied in Business

682) Where Does Network Theory Originate From?

683) Do Graphs Make Text More Readable?

Disease Research Paper Topics

684) What Causes Valley Fever?

685) Strategies for Avoiding Osteoarthritis

686) What Represents Emotional Disturbance?

687) Common Diseases of Red Blood Cells

688) Which Population Suffers From Colon Cancer Most?

689) Alleviating Effects Metabolic Syndrome Has

690) Living with Chronic Pains

691) Is Diabetes Still Deadly?

692) Miracles in Curing Breast Cancer

693) How Do Diets for Men Differ From Those for Women?

694) What Food Causes Ulcers?

695) What Additional Disorders People with OCD Usually Have?

696) New Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease

697) Who Is More Vulnerable to Diabetes?

698) Is HIV a Death Sentence?

699) Theories on Curing Down's Syndrome

700) Early Melanoma Symptoms

701) What Common Features Do Autoimmune Diseases Have?

702) Explain Dangers of Myopia

703) Is Separation Anxiety a Mental Condition?

704) In Which Cases Is Obesity a Disease?

705) If All Diseases Disappeared, What Would the World Look Like?

706) How Does Puberty Start?

707) Could Do People in Coma Receive Food?

708) Develop Model of Addiction Stages

709) Could Leprosy Become a Big Danger Now?

710) Hypothetical Scenario: How Would Lycanthropy Develop?

711) Glioblastoma Treatment in 2010 vs. 2020

712) Etymology of Sickle Cell Disease

713) The Deadliest Microorganisms

714) Beginning of Spanish Influenza

715) Why Are Many People Ashamed of Erectile Dysfunction?

716) What Factors Make Diseases Transferable?

717) Best Findings of Epidemiology

Social Science Research Paper Topics

718) Impact Social Science Has on Economy

719) Is Human Trafficking Only Sexual in Nature?

720) Modern Ways of Stopping Sex Trafficking

721) Issues Social Science Cannot Solve

722) Why Has Marijuana Remained Forbidden for So Long?

723) Why Does Veteran Homelessness Exist?

724) When Does Immigration Start Posing a Threat?

725) Is It Ethical to Let a Young but Eager Child Work?

726) How Is Our Morality Developed?

727) Alternative Models for Changing Behavior

728) Is It Possible to Shorten Work Days?

729) What Does Profound Social Change Mean?

730) How We Take Animal Mistreatment for Granted

731) Private vs. Global Security

732) Who Determines What Marriage Is?

Architecture Research Paper Topics

733) How Can Architecture Improve Energy Sustainability?

734) What Is Cellulose Insulation Used For?

735) Effective Ways for Managing Storm Water

736) Common Examples of Green Architecture

737) How Many Times Was Notre-Dame de Paris Rebuilt?

738) Describe Your Favorite Architectural Theory

739) First Dog Park

740) Stages in Interior Analysis

741) Who Is Classified as Good Construction Worker?

742) Is Steel Construction Overrated?

743) Is New York City Architecturally Beautiful or Jarring?

744) Compare Japanese Architecture Development

745) Improving Urban Health via New Designs

746) Adapting to Life in Big Cities After Rural Areas

747) Are Smart Cities Beneficial or Dangerous?

Chemistry Research Paper Topics

748) Is Triclosan Toxic in All Cases?

749) Explore Usage of Polysaccharide Adhesives

750) What Are Dior Bags Made Of?

751) When Is Cobalt Utilized?

752) Chemicals Used for Producing Drinking Water

753) Issues Covered by Inorganic Chemistry

754) Impact of Toxins Surrounding Us In Daily Life

755) Gasoline Influence On Pregnant Women

756) How Does Steel Become Solid?

757) What Family Does Chymotrypsin Belong To?

758) How Does Alcohol Poisoning Happen?

759) Chemical Groups in Human Biology

760) Which Milk Formula Is Better Suited for Newborns?

761) Is Cisplatin Used for Cancer Prevention?

762) Which Breast Implants Are Safest?

763) What Produces Covalent Compounds?

764) Are You More Interested in Inorganic or Organic Chemistry?

765) Why Is Using Ibuprofen Often Dangerous?

766) Explain Each Stage in Solid Phase Extraction

767) Which Inhibitors of InhA Help with Tuberculosis?

768) How Are Solubility Enhancements Applied In Pharmaceutical Operations?

769) Which Materials Could Be Radioactive?

Economics Research Paper Topics

770) How Singapore's Economics Affects Its Education System

771) Major Worldwide Financial Institutions

772) Who Is Responsible for Price Control in America?

773) Who Dictates Price of Gas?

774) How Do Countries Engage in Monetary Transactions?

775) Pros & Cons of Increasing Minimum Wage

776) American Leading Economic Policies

777) Which Firms Usually Emerge as Competitors?

778) Is Supply and Demand Ratio Even in American Healthcare?

779) How Could International Market Collapse?

780) What Keeps Ford Motor Company Going?

781) Trace Economic Growth in Underdeveloped Countries

782) Preventive Strategies for Financial Collapse

783) Economic Relationship between China and Africa

784) Does Trade Freedom Stimulate Economic Growth?

785) Topics Covered by Macroeconomics

786) What Is Asian Political Economy?

787) What Are American Economic Ethics?

788) Four Key Concepts in Economics

789) Research Economic Background of Any Company

790) Define Positive Economic Environment

791) Are Investments in Emerging Markets Justified?

792) Issues Microeconomics Is Responsible For

793) Does Government Control Economy?

Management Research Paper Topics

794) What Should Good Strategic Plan Be Based On?

795) Tasks Covered by HR Management

796) How Important Is Hospitality Management?

797) Best Strategies for Recruiting New Staff

798) Explain Tactics of Lean Supply Chain Management

799) What Management Philosophies Appeal to You?

800) When Does Leadership Fail?

801) How Quick Can Technology Transfer Be?

802) Which Problems Do Cloud Solution Address?

803) Personal Property Management

804) Features of Strong POS System

805) Which Leadership Style Do Most Car Firms Implement?

806) Can Terrorism Be Ever Managed?

807) Place of Firm’s Social Responsibility in Branding

808) Are Servers of Any Company Completely Safe?

Theater Research Paper Topics

809) How Effective Is Fahrenheit 451 Theater Portrayal?

810) Best Depiction of Romeo & Juliet in Theater

811) What Is the Source of Doubt Regarding Shakespeare’s Identity as an Author?

812) What Makes ‘Death of a Salesman’ Impressive?

813) Design of African Grove Theatre

814) What Is Your Favorite Play?

815) Which Theater Elements Make Performance Successful?

816) "Herod the Great:" Compare Depiction in Plays vs. Paintings

817) How Often Does Violence Occur in Theatres?

818) Your Position in Controversy Surrounding Harry Potter Performance

819) How Are Themes of Good vs. Evil Portrayed in Theater?

820) Greek Cultural Dance

821) When Were Women Allowed Playing in Shakespeare's Plays?

822) Role of Women in Theater: From Ancient Times to Present Days

823) Eugene O'Neil’s Plays: Three Defining Features

Mass Media Research Paper Topics

824) Accomplishments of Marshal McLuhan as Applied Today

825) What Allows Fake News to Gain Volume?

826) How Does Digital Media Work in the UAE?

827) List Modern Sources of Alternative Media

828) Do People Influence Media or Vice Versa?

829) Social Media & Rise in Bullying

830) Establish Background of Social Media: How Did It Appear?

831) Ageism in Movies and TV Shows

832) How Do Terminally Ill People Use Media?

833) Military Recruiting Promotion via Facebook

834) Truth Behind Reality Shows

835) Could Media Influence Make People Support War on Their Territory?

Advertising Research Paper Topics

836) Functions Art Directors Perform?

837) How Can Businesses Prove Their Eco-Friendly Status?

838) How Will Advertising Look In the Future?

839) Who Controls Advertisements For Children?

840) Compare Marketing Strategies in Muslim vs. Western Countries

841) Negative Effects Modern Ads Have on Children’s Eating Desires

842) Does Advertising Differ in Low vs. High Income Areas?

843) Elements of Personal Branding

844) How Does Persuasion Work in Marketing?

845) Why Do Many People Hate Influencers?

846) Present Example of the Most Memorable Ad

847) Three Most Effective Advertising Strategies

848) Does Advertising Have Any Morals?

HR Research Paper Topics

849) Devise Effective HR Design for Your Workplace

850) Explain Principles Behind Jobs Outsourcing

851) How Could Diversity Training Be Implemented?

852) What Problems Does Work Internationalization Cause?

853) What Organizational Change Does Coca-Cola Need?

854) Sections a Good Feasibility Report Should Have

855) Does HR Management Have the Right to Monitor Its Employees’ Social Media?

856) Failure to Establish Contact with Human Resources

857) Work Policies About Transgenders

858) How Many Stages Should HR Interviews Comprise?

859) Should Employees Be Allowed to Date Each Other?

860) How Ethical Is It to Lure In Employees From Other Firms?

861) Relevance of HR Managers in an Agency

862) Most Flawed HR Policy in US

863) Social Media Facilitates International Recruiting

864) Is There a Universal HR Manual?

865) How Effective Is Career Counseling Statistically?

866) Who Oversees Human Resource Management

Journalism Research Paper Topics

867) Explore Homeland Security in America

868) How Do Journalists In Different Countries Report on the Same Terrorism Events?

869) Strategies for Making Effective Pitch

870) Should Journalists Employed by Newspapers Also Publish Works Independently?

871) What Events Warrant Press Conference?

872) Bias in Middle East Reporting

873) Is Experience Vital for Being a Good Journalist?

874) How Long Should an Ideal Interview Last?

875) Violence Female Reporters Face

876) Social Climbing Among American Journalists

877) How to Organize a Culturally Sensitive International Interview?

878) What Help Can Kidnapped Journalists Expect from US?

879) What Questions Would Your First Interview Have?

880) What Makes People Interested in Journalism?

881) Corruption Among Journalists

882) Scandalous Journalist Investigations

883) Differences Between Journalist and Paparazzi

Research Paper Topics on Social Media

884) Social Media & its Impact on Society

885) Why Do Professionals Use LinkedIn?

886) Advantages & Disadvantages of Facebook

887) Typical Day Without Social Media

888) Reasons Why Facebook is More Popular Among Elders

889) Is TikTok Only for Younger Generations?

890) Mental Health & Social Platforms

891) Advertising Opportunities in TikTok

892) Is it Reasonable to Have Social Accounts on Every Platform?

893) MySpace Faded Popularity

894) Instagram vs TikTok: Competition

895) Pinterest as a Way to Drive Traffic to Your Website

896) Patreon: Origin, Features & Charges

897) Zoom vs Skype

898) Snapchat: Who Uses It?

899) iTunes vs Spotify: Constant Battle

900) Netflix or HBO Max: Pros and Cons

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Posted by Chris M., February 17, 2021

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