Under the supervision of the Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Professor Dr. Sarmed H. Kadhem Al-Khateeb, the Continuing Education Unit at the College of Pharmacy/ university of Baghdad held an in-person workshop entitled “Peer Review of Scientific Research: Ethics and Mechanisms”, delivered by Assistant Professor Dr. Samer Emad Mohammed, a faculty member in the Clinical Pharmacy Department.
The workshop aimed to establish a deep understanding of the importance of the peer-review process as a critical mechanism for ensuring the quality of research before its publication in reputable scientific journals. Peer review serves as the cornerstone of the scientific research infrastructure, functioning as a filter for quality and a safeguard for scientific integrity.
The workshop included several topics including: the fundamental ethical principles that guide the work of reviewers such as avoiding bias based on authors’ identities or institutional affiliations, maintaining the confidentiality of the manuscript during and after the review process, disclosing any potential conflicts of interest, and providing constructive feedback aimed at improving the research rather than criticizing it negatively. It also included a detailed practical model outlining the steps of conducting a review, including how to perform an initial assessment to determine the manuscript’s suitability for the journal’s scope and its significance, how to analyze the methodology, evaluate the results and discussion, and how to write a clear and comprehensive final report summarizing strengths and weaknesses and providing specific recommendations to accept, reject, or request revisions.
The workshop concluded by emphasizing the importance of developing young researchers’ skills and highlighting major global platforms and electronic resources that provide accredited training and guidelines on best practices in peer review, enabling them to contribute effectively to the scientific publication process.
