Peer review is under scrutiny in a survey by the British non-profit science lobby Sense About Science, according to Nature's senior news reporter Geoff Brumfiel, writing for The Great Beyond blog (http://tinyurl.com/mozdbv). Brumfiel succinctly sums up the survey's findings: “Peer review is hardly perfect, but nobody's got a better idea.” The poll of 4,000 peer reviewers revealed a few surprises — only 9% of scientists canvassed were dissatisfied with the current peer-review system, and most think that more secrecy could improve the process.

Only 20% of respondents supported the idea of 'open peer review' in which reviewer names are revealed, whereas a “whopping 76% of researchers” cast a vote in favour of 'double-blind' peer review, in which the names of both authors and reviewers are hidden from each other. A significant percentage, 41%, responded that getting paid would make them more keen to review papers.

For junior researchers who would like to get involved in peer reviewing, the Peer-to-Peer blog has some tips on how to be noticed by editors (see http://tinyurl.com/ner3s8).