Wheels coming off? : Critically assessing the peer review process in Southern African archaeology

Abstract

Peer review has been generally defined as the process through which peers with similar competences to the work they are tasked to review pass judgement to the Editorial Team, advising them on how best to respond to the manuscript under consideration. As Smith (2006: 178) alluded, “peer review is at the heart of the processes of not just medical journals but of all of science. It is the method by which grants are allocated, papers published, academics promoted, and Nobel prizes won.” The significance of peer review, therefore, is very high. Peer review can be taken as a self-policing process by those involved within a certain discipline to ensure that what is published has been evaluated by experienced scholars in the field.