Teaching early-career researchers how to respond to peer reviewers

Abstract

The process of publishing a research article in a scientific journal inevitably involves revising the original version of the article to respond to the concerns raised by peer reviewers. In this article we describe a course module that introduces MSc students at Utrecht University in the Netherlands to this part of the publication process. During the module the students and an invited speaker actively discuss the revision process for a recent article by the speaker. Feedback from students and speakers on the module - which could be readily transferred to other courses in the life and biomedical sciences - has been largely positive.