Reviewing journal papers effectively, efficiently and fairly

Academic journals rely on researchers agreeing to act as reviewers (or referees) for submitted papers. Researchers who publish papers themselves benefit from the contributions of those who review their papers, and so have a moral obligation to provide reviewing services for journals. However, reviewing is time consuming, and the total number of papers published continues to increase, so editors have found it increasingly difficult to obtain reviews. Further, the quality of reviews provided by reviewers varies greatly. This paper addresses various issues related to the journal refereeing process, including: tips on how to go about conducting a high-quality review efficiently and fairly; what can and cannot realistically be expected of referees; advice on dealing with ethical issues in refereeing; problems with the existing peer-review system used most commonly by journals; and a look at novel review systems