New JMLA reviewer tutorial launched

The editorial team of the JMLA is pleased to announce the launch of the JMLA Reviewer Tutorial.

The expected audience for the tutorial includes the JMLA Editorial Board as well as prospective authors of JMLA articles and those interested in learning more about the peer review process.

Focusing on critical appraisal skills, the tutorial is intended to:
- Provide orientation and professional development for current and incoming JMLA peer reviewers
- Facilitate development of general skills in critically assessing the literature
- Share editorial and peer review expectations for manuscript structure and content with prospective authors of JMLA articles
- Serve as a knowledge management strategy by capturing the JMLA’s peer review process

The tutorial's components include:
- An overview of the role of peer review and JMLA administrative practices and the typical submission-review-disposition workflow
- A detailed consideration of questions to consider in reviewing submitted manuscripts, focused on critiquing key sections of an article (methodology and approach, results, conclusions, implications, writing style)
- Suggestions for developing commentary on the paper and arriving at a final recommendation to the editorial team regarding the article’s disposition
- Sample review comments to illustrate content and tone/writing style
- An example manuscript to allow tutorial participants to exercise their new peer reviewing skills.

We hope it proves useful and please feel free to share any comments or questions with us.

Related:
We also presented a poster about the tutorial at this year's Medical Library Association annual meeting in Philadelphia, available online here (electronic versions of other posters from this year's meeting are also accessible via this list).