Peer review is a critical element in the editorial process at Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The goals are to provide expert advice to the authors regarding their work, a check on the scientific validity of the data and methods, and information to the editors for use in their decision about the suitability of the paper for publication in the ARCHIVES.
The quality of journals rests, to a large degree, on the quality of the peer review process. Like nearly all scientific journals, the ARCHIVES relies on a volunteer pool of talented individuals who take time out of their busy week to review manuscripts. The journal could not be published without their help, and we are extremely grateful for their efforts. However, reviewers are rarely given any advice, by their senior colleagues or anyone else, on the best way to conduct reviews. Our purpose in this brief article is to provide some suggestions for reviewers so that their time can be spent producing a review that will be helpful to authors and editors.