How does peer review work?

Peer review acts as quality control for education research – but the quality of peer reviews can vary

Peer review is used in academic research as a form of quality control. Research papers are sent to other experts in the field, who scrutinise the work and ensure that the findings are original, valid and high quality.

The EEF view: what are the implications for education research?

Peer review is an important part of quality assurance in any field but its exact role depends on the nature of the research.

Some key things that peer review examines include:

Errors in data analysis.
Methodological rigor and “warrant”.
Contextual information, such as missing references or the omission of similar papers in the field that should form part of the discussion.
The security and validity of conclusions in relation to the study design and findings.
Transparent consideration of research limitations.

In extreme cases, reviewers might identify cases of academic fraud.

Peer review is often a gateway to publication in academic journals - with reviewers also commenting on the value of the research to the field.

Outside of academia, other organisations that publish research use peer reviewers to improve the quality of their research outputs. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), for example, uses peer reviewers to independently assign “padlocks” that rate the quality of the trial and the robustness of its findings to support teachers’ decision making.

Peer review, however, is not perfect. While funders often pay for reviewers’ time, academic journals usually do not - and it is sometimes hard to find experienced researchers who have the time to engage with research at the depth required for a high-quality review, or with the relevant expertise for any particular project.

Peer review is an important part of quality assurance but it will only ever be as good as the time and expertise given to each review.

Where can I see peer review in action?

Generally speaking, peer review is always worthwhile - it benefits research, no matter how large or small the scale.

In a research project in 2021, Dr Kirsten Russell, a research analyst at the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, looked at how to combat youth violence. She drew together high-quality international evidence about prevention, and found that school- and education-based approaches are effective in reducing violence.

In her acknowledgements, she commented on how useful she found the peer review process, writing: “The author would like to express their thanks to Dr Susan Batchelor, Dr Alistair Fraser, Dr Caitlin Gormley, Dr Keir Irwin-Rogers and Anastasiia Kovalenko for their helpful suggestions made during the peer-review of this report.”

Small-scale, teacher-led research often doesn’t have this benefit. However, when considered alongside other studies that have, it can still help to support a wider conclusion - as long as the limitations of the unreviewed research are acknowledged.

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