“All our knowledge has been built communally; there would be no astrophysics, there would be no history, there would not even be language, if man were a solitary animal. What follows? It follows that we must be able to rely on other people; we must be able to trust their word.” (Jacob Bronowski, The Sense of Human Dignity)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect a large proportion of the globe, it is more important than ever for the public, policymakers, and researchers to be able to trust in scientific output. Peer Review Week 2020 is celebrating its sixth year with a focus on ‘Trust in Peer Review’. We are pleased to support its aims of emphasizing the central role peer review plays in scholarly communication; showcasing the work of editors and reviewers; sharing research and advancing best practices; and highlighting the latest innovation and applications.

100th Anniversary

EDP Sciences is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and, despite wars and pandemics, has stood the test of time by applying the most rigorous standards to the publishing process. EDP Sciences was created in 1920 by a group of far-sighted scientists and industrialists. Marie Curie, Louis de Broglie, Paul Langevin and more created the foundations for the EDP Sciences that the scholarly publishing community knows today, and we are proud to maintain the same high standards of publication and peer review 100 years later.

NESTOR and Cadmore Integration

Earlier this year, EDP Sciences announced the launch of its new submission system (NESTOR) which offers “easier, faster, safer submissions” with full video integration provided by Cadmore Media. Developed entirely in-house by a small team, this new system considers all stakeholders and has been carefully crafted to facilitate the needs of editors, authors, and reviewers. EDP Sciences is pleased to be able to better support both its authors and its reviewers with this new system.

“The end-to-end integration with NESTOR is unique and provides authors with a very neat solution from submission and peer-review all the way through to final publication on the platform.” – Violaine Iglesias, CEO & Co-Founder, Cadmore Media.

Masterclasses

“Understanding the process of peer review and getting research published is daunting for young scientists.” (Anne Ruimy, Senior Publisher, EDP Sciences)

EDP Sciences continues to support its ‘Scientific Writing Masterclasses’ program with the aim to enable early career researchers and students to better understand the publishing process. The next session is due to take place at Paris-Saclay University on 12-13 October 2020 and will offer a chemistry subject focus. EDP Sciences continues to develop supporting resources for these workshops, including video interviews from the EiCs of Parasite and Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate that provide advice for early career researchers.

Peer-review remains a core element of these masterclasses, with participants having the opportunity to review articles and receive constructive feedback on their own articles. For the next session in October, participants will use NESTOR for these activities.

4open

4open, the open access journal built on the four pillars of Open Science, is still actively encouraging the use of open peer-review. This element is currently optional and requires the “opt in” of all parties. In time, the journal believes that this option will encourage a more holistic view of a published piece of work, and will provide a more thorough evaluation. The team at 4open is looking forward to publishing its first article with the open peer review element and for it to become an established part of the publishing process. 4open, like most of our journals, follows the standards and guidelines provided by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) which is another way we encourage ‘trust’.

Looking ahead

EDP Sciences believes that transparency in the peer review process enhances the progression of the scholarly publishing community, and it is committed to facilitating this progression as it has been for the past 100 years.

“Especially in the age of COVID-19, we are evermore committed to supporting greater efficiency in the peer review process, demonstrated by our implementation of the NESTOR submission system. We truly appreciate the support and effort that we receive from our reviewers and editorial boards and know we can count on them to ensure the quality and trust in our output going forward.” (France Citrini, Associate Publishing Director)

We would like to thank all our reviewers for their unstinting efforts and unwavering support particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their help to review and publish relevant content as quickly as possible has been truly remarkable and, once again, highlights the invaluable expertise and hard work of reviewers.

Diversity in Peer Review

Don’t forget our Diversity in Peer Review Editors-in-Chief interviews. Even now, the issues discussed remain pertinent and represent a significant challenge for a large proportion of the community.