每日英語 #088: Peer Review 同儕審查

更新於 2024/08/13發佈於 2024/08/13閱讀時間約 6 分鐘

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Peer Review 同儕審查

When we read about scientific research, we often hear the term “peer review.” Peer review is the process of taking a piece of scientific research, usually in the form of a written article, and sending it to knowledgeable people in the same field to get their advice on whether the research is “sound” (based on good research) and should be “published” (printed for others to read).

當我們閱讀科學研究時，我們經常聽到「同儕審查」這個術語。同儕審查是將一項科學研究，通常以書面文章的形式，送給同一領域的專家，以獲得他們的建議，判斷該研究是否“健全”（基於良好的研究）並應該“出版”（印刷讓其他人閱讀）的過程。

Peer review is often used by “scientific journals,” which are publications containing professional and/or research articles published regularly–monthly, “quarterly” (every three months), “biannually” (two times a year) or “annually” (each year). Peer review is also used by “conference” (professional meeting) organizers to determine whether a presentation is appropriate for that conference and of a high quality. “In theory” (the way it is supposed to work), peer review makes sure that only good research is published or presented, so that it can gain the attention of other people in the field and/or the “media” (news organizations).

同儕審查通常由“科學期刊”使用，這些期刊是定期發表包含專業和/或研究文章的出版物——每月，“每季”（每三個月），“半年一次”（每年兩次）或“每年”（每年一次）出版。會議的“組織者”（專業會議）也使用同儕審查來確定某一演講是否適合該會議且質量高。“理論上”（按照應有的工作方式），同儕審查確保只有好的研究能夠出版或展示，以便吸引該領域其他人和/或“媒體”（新聞機構）的關注。

For peer review to work well, it is best to have “blind review,” which is when an article or written presentation is sent to reviewers without the name of the author(s) on it. (Sometimes, other identifying information within the article is also taken out.) This way, reviewers can’t be influenced by the name of the author, his or her “affiliation” (organization that he or she works for or is connected with), or any other factors not associated with the quality of the research and the article itself.

為了讓同儕審查有效進行，最好進行“盲審”，即將文章或書面演講送給審查者時不包含作者的名字。（有時，文章中的其他識別信息也會被刪除。）這樣，審查者不會受到作者名字、他或她的“隸屬關係”（他或她所工作的或關聯的機構）或其他與研究和文章質量無關的因素的影響。

Although peer review is widely used, it is far from a perfect system. However, it is considered the best method researchers have to “cull” (separate) good research from bad. Keeping in mind that peer review and blind review aren’t perfect, however, we can all be better “consumers” (readers; receivers) of scientific research.

儘管同儕審查被廣泛使用，但它遠非一個完美的系統。然而，它被認為是研究人員“篩選”（分離）好壞研究的最佳方法。雖然要記住同儕審查和盲審並不完美，但我們都可以成為科學研究更好的“消費者”（讀者；接受者）。