To further thank and recognise the support from our excellent reviewer community, we are highlighting reviewers who have provided exceptional support to the journal over the past year.
This month, we’ll be highlighting Professor Liliya Yatsunyk, Dr Hajime Kameo and Dr Amar Flood. We asked our reviewers a few questions about what they enjoy about reviewing, and their thoughts on how to provide a useful review.
Professor Liliya Yatsunyk, Swarthmore College (USA). Canonical DNA is well known as a carrier of genetic information. But non-canonical DNA structures that my lab investigates play functional roles in our bodies, regulating a variety of important biological processes, notably cancer and aging.
Dr Hajime Kameo, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan. My research focuses on contributing to the deepening of catalysis science based on the chemistry of organometallic complexes.
Dr Amar Flood, Indiana University (USA). Amar studies ion-driven assembly with an emphasis on what anions bring to the table for molecular recognition and self-assembly leading to responsive polymers and optical materials (called SMILES).
What encouraged you to review for Chemical Science?
Professor Liliya Yatsunyk: Being a reviewer is a great privilege as it gives me a chance to glimpse into the newest research findings. It also gives me an opportunity to shape this research with my careful feedback on the submitted work.
Dr Amar Flood: The journal attracts interesting chemistry-focussed research, and so the articles are fun and enjoyable to read and review.
Dr Hajime Kameo: Chemical Science is one of my favorite journals and makes a significant contribution to the chemical community. Its high quality is indicative of a rigorous and fair peer review process. I am honored to be a part of this process.
What do you enjoy most about reviewing?
Professor Liliya Yatsunyk: Learning new things, helping others to improve their work, and feeling part of the great community of scientists.
Dr Amar Flood: Helping the authors (and particularly the first author) to improve the quality of the science and its communication to the community
Dr Hajime Kameo: Aside from being able to contribute to the scientific community at a high level, the most enjoyable part is the opportunity to reaffirm my interest in chemistry by reading stories of cutting-edge, outstanding chemistry.
Do you have any advice to our readers seeking publication in Chemical Science on what makes a good paper?
Dr Hajime Kameo: The significance and value of the study are clearly demonstrated through concise text and attractive figures and tables.
Are there any steps that reviewers can undertake to improve the quality of their review?
Professor Liliya Yatsunyk: Do not stretch themselves thin with taking on too many papers to review or having other commitments. Also, as a reviewer, one needs to keep in mind that our task is not to criticize the authors or find mistakes, our task is to help authors improve their work – shape your review with that goal in mind. Focus on the big picture and major problems that you see with the review – word editing is not a reviewer’s job and it takes lots of time and potentially also detracts from delivering the useful message.
Tune in next month to meet our next group of #ChemSciReviewers!
If you want to learn more about how we support our reviewers, check out our Reviewer Hub.
Interested in joining our ever-growing reviewer community? Apply here now!
