Thread by @soragnilab

So. @PracheeAC @BembenekLab and I wrote a feature article on @Elife!
It’s about killing two birds with one stone. A thread.
elifesciences.org/articles/38532

Early career researchers (ECR) rarely get formally trained in peer review practices, so that for many, the first contact with the formal peer review process happens when they submit their first paper

On the other other hand, preprints are taking over the science world and changing the way and speed at which we communicate science. Authors can incorporate feedback prior to publication. Yet, most preprints do not receive any.

Here comes the stone:
how about converting journal clubs to preprint JC and leverage these to both train ECRs in peer review practices and to provide feedback to preprint authors?

This has many potential advantages: Students learn to critically evaluate manuscripts that have not already been peer reviewed. So there is no preconception about experts having caught potential issues

No journal title means that we can simply focus on the science instead of perceived impact or whether a paper “belongs” to that venue.
(which by the way, is such a liberation..)

Using preprint reviews as a class activity, is an opportunity for students to provide feedback that can lead to improvement of the manuscript. Feeling like you are contributing to the scientific discourse is a fantastic tool to motivate and empowers budding scientists and ECRs

By training students on peer review practices using a "live" manuscript instead of a published paper, we have a real opportunity to give them insights into the real process.
I am going to argue that if we do this right, reviewer 3 will be extinguished..

We can also increase the pool of scientists available to review manuscripts and reduce the load placed on current reviewers. This could have a great impact as we know well that the burden of reviewing is placed on a small portion of our communities.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27832157

Ultimately, authors receiving feedback on their preprints that were discussed during journal clubs can share the comments with journal editors, who could then choose to consider it in their evaluations.

There are so many potential benefits for authors, students, and the broader research community that proliferation of preprint journal clubs can bring about.
Go out there and start one at your uni!! 😀

@threadreaderapp unroll