The Lancet peer reviewers and the COVID-19 pandemic
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Introduction
Peer review is paramount to the scholarly article paradigm, helping to ensure the integrity and credibility of research. The Lancet played a crucial role in disseminating key information on the COVID-19 pandemic, publishing early clinical descriptions, risk factors for death, and effectiveness of measures like physical distancing and masks. Notably, The Lancet was the world’s most cited journal for COVID-19 research, emphasising its significant impact on disseminating critical findings during the pandemic.
Methods
Geographic data for The Lancet’s peer reviewers in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (pandemic) were analysed at the country level, ranking reviewer countries. A test of proportions compared reviewer numbers between the years.
Results
In 2020, China emerged as one of the top ten reviewer countries for the first time, with a significant increase from 1% (25 of 1843) in 2019 to 3% (54 of 1850), p=0.001. Italy also entered the top five reviewer countries, rising from 4% (67) to 5% (90), p=0.065. Reviewers from Africa 43 (2%) and South America 31 (2%) represented their continents in 2020. The top ten reviewer nations for The Lancet in 2020 largely mirrored the top ten countries in global COVID-19 research output.
Conclusion
During the COVID-19 pandemic’s acute phase in 2020, The Lancet , the world’s most cited journal for COVID-19 research, featured peer reviewers who were largely representative of global COVID-19 research output. Notably, reviewers from China, the first country affected by COVID-19, increased significantly. However, underrepresentation of some continents persisted. To foster global idea exchange and enhance pandemic preparedness, research capacity worldwide must expand, broadening the reviewer pool—a vital step given uncertainties in future pandemic geographic origin.
