Responsibilities and ethics

• Discusses the importance of peer review for the author, the journal, and for the field
• Discusses how editors choose reviewers and what are their expectations
• Reviews when a researcher should accept an invitation to be a reviewer and if so, the responsibilities they will be expected to adhere to as a referee
• Discusses ethical issues surrounding peer review such as confidentiality, objectivity, and bias

Assessing manuscript relevance

• Reviews strategies to conduct peer review thoroughly and efficiently
• Determines what the journal is expecting in terms of breadth and impact, which helps to tailor the review to be appropriate
• Discusses how to assess the relevance of the manuscript from a big picture perspective – what is the motivation behind the study and is that important for the field now?

Evaluating the manuscript

• Evaluates each section of the manuscript, beginning with common mistakes made related to the title and abstract, and how to advise the appropriate changes for the author
• Highlights strategies to evaluate the clarity and breadth of the Introduction, as well as the technical rigor and transparency in the Methods
• Discusses how to assess the clarity and appropriateness of the Figures and the accuracy of their description
• Reviews how to ensure the Discussion thoroughly discusses the relevance of the results for the field, as well as the validity of the conclusion

Writing clear reviewer reports

• Introduces the different types of reports that reviewers may encounter while working with different journals, as well as the editorial expectations
• Reviews how to write an effective summary of the study and how this will be important for both the editor and the author
• Discusses the confidential comments to the editor and the information that editors are expecting the reviewer to share about the study
• Highlights strategies on how to communicate any major and/or minor concerns with the study to the authors