What is Peer Review?
Do you think of scientists as loners, cooped up in a lab and working alone all day?

While many people think of scientists in this way, they actually are frequently interacting with other scientists in their building, in other labs, and around the world. Sharing ideas with other researchers is an essential part of being a scientist. The entire process of sharing ideas, suggestions, results, and questions is referred to as "peer review".

Peer review means that scientists ask other scientists - that is, their peers - to review their work. In fact, scientists use peer review in all stages of the research process, from narrowing down a question to presenting research results. How do scientists actually get their peers to review their work? Go to the next page in the tutorial to learn how.