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 Dr Alexa Kuenstler, Dr John Mack, Professor AnnMarie O’Donoghue and Professor Nathalie Steunou. We asked our reviewers a few questions about what they enjoy about reviewing, and their thoughts on how to provide a useful review.
Dr Alexa Kuenstler, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (USA). My group works at the intersection of polymer chemistry and polymer physics to develop soft materials that address challenges in sustainability, energy, and human health.
Dr John Mack, Rhodes University (South Africa). I use molecular modelling to guide the rational selection of porphyrins and their analogues for applications, often in the context of their nanoparticle conjugates. The applications include use as photosensitizer dyes in photodynamic therapy against cancer cells and antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, and as optical limiting materials for attenuating intense incident laser pulses.
Professor AnnMarie O’Donoghue, Durham University (United Kingdom). I am a physical organic chemist focused on the detailed understanding of reaction mechanism in organo- and enzymatic catalysis. Following decades of impressive developments and identification of many new catalysts, I strongly believe that further progress will depend on in-depth understanding of mechanism and is particularly important in addressing sustainability goals.
Professor Nathalie Steunou, Université de Versailles – Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France). The research of Nathalie Steunou is focused on the design of hybrid inorganic-organic materials including MOFs and composites for energy, health and environment related applications.
What encouraged you to review for Chemical Science?
Dr Alexa Kuenstler: Chemical Science publishes work at interdisciplinary interfaces – I both value this scientific ethos and appreciate the opportunity to serve the greater scientific community.
Dr John Mack: The very high quality of this journal means that almost all manuscripts sent out for review are likely to be on the cutting edge in terms of the fields I am involved in.
Professor AnnMarie O’Donoghue: Chemical Science is one of the flagship international RSC journals. It is good to support both the journal and the chemistry field more widely through provision of reviews.
Professor Nathalie Steunou: Reviewing articles is one of the scientific activities a researcher must carry out, and it’s always very interesting to read articles covering interdisciplinary topics in chemistry and materials science and to have the opportunity to exchange scientific views with the authors.
What do you enjoy most about reviewing?
Dr Alexa Kuenstler: I enjoy the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge work that is cross-disciplinary.
Dr John Mack: Although it can be time-consuming at times, it does provide an opportunity to stay current on how a broader scientific field is developing with regards to what experiments are possible with regards to the characterization of compounds and the analysis of their properties and utility for applications while providing a service to the broader scientific community as part of the basic obligations of being an academic.
Professor AnnMarie O’Donoghue: I enjoy the insights provided of current state-of-the-art developments and concepts in chemistry. I also learn from the different presentation styles of Chemical Science authors. I am always impressed by the creative graphics included by authors!
Professor Nathalie Steunou: It’s very important to read the recent works submitted by my scientific community and to keep abreast of scientific advances. It’s also a time for scientific exchanges and, of course, a time for reflection on one’s own work.
What advice would you give a first-time author looking to maximise their chances of successful peer review?
Dr Alexa Kuenstler: Good papers tell good stories – use compelling figures to present interesting data and use the text to place these into the broader context of the work. Above all, make sure the work teaches the community something!
Dr John Mack: It is extremely important to master how to use software such as Excel and Powerpoint to present their data sets as clearly as possible to the reviewer.
What makes a paper truly stand out for you when reviewing a paper?
Professor AnnMarie O’Donoghue: It can be difficult to give the necessary time to providing detailed, constructive, balanced reviews as we are all time-pressed, however, it is one of the most important contributions we can make to the community. Particularly for Early Career Researchers, I think it is very important to maintain a positive, constructive tone and highlight positive aspects of a manuscript in addition to potential areas for improvement.
Do you have any advice to our readers seeking publication in Chemical Science on what makes a good paper?
Professor Nathalie Steunou: I don’t have any advice to give, just an opinion. To write a good article is to concisely tell a creative scientific story and, as a result, send a message that is likely to be of interest to the entire chemistry community.
Are there any steps that reviewers can undertake to improve the quality of their review?
Dr John Mack: I think it is important to avoid only being harshly negative when it becomes necessary to outright reject a paper. Time should be taken to leave the corresponding author with a clear picture of what you think they will need to do in future to reach the level that they aspire to.
Professor AnnMarie O’Donoghue: It can be difficult to give the necessary time to providing detailed, constructive, balanced reviews as we are all time-pressed, however, it is one of the most important contributions we can make to the community. Particularly for Early Career Researchers, I think it is very important to maintain a positive, constructive tone and highlight positive aspects of a manuscript in addition to potential areas for improvement.
Did reviewing for Chemical Science affect how you approached preparation of your recent publication with us?
Professor Nathalie Steunou: Writing a really good article isn’t easy, and you learn a lot about writing by reading and assessing the work of others.
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!
