Module: 2

Sponsoring Program: April
Administrator: Rebecca Brown

STUDY LIST INFORMATION
Course Number: CCB 219
Course Name: Peer Review in the Life Sciences
Units: 3
Grading Option: S/U
Course Director: Jaime Fraser

MORE COURSE INFORMATION
Other faculty: TBA
Schedule: Mon, Thurs, Fri 3:00-5:00p
Maximum Class Size: 12
This Minicourse will be offered online. Instructions for ZOOM meetings will be sent by the course director.

Course Description: By far, the most widely accepted means of communication is through publishing papers in scientific journals. The process of peer review plays an important role in refining the body of work prior to final publication. Yet, peer review is rarely taught to students in a formal setting, and is largely dependent on individual labs and mentors, leading to variable standards of peer review. Reflecting the evolution of technology, society and scientific culture, preprints have gained popularity in the life sciences in recent years, resulting in a shift in how progress in the life sciences is communicated, and raising questions of how we, as a scientific community, may work towards optimizing the peer review process in the life sciences. This class will use preprint servers (for example, BioRxiv) as a platform for formally teaching students how to peer review manuscripts in a critical and constructive way. Student will compose reviews that will be posted (either named or anonymously through James Fraser acting as an "editor") as comments associated with the preprint on BioRxiv.