683: Checking the Numbers: A Professional Development Workshop to Build Methods-Focused Reviewing Skills (19349)

Peer review plays a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity of scholarly research and reviewing is often seen as a “professional responsibility” (Trevino, 2008). A significant priority for all scholars should be ensuring high quality and objective evaluations of manuscripts, yet there are frequent observations that many reviewers lack the necessary expertise needed to perform reviews. While other sessions have provided guidance on the holistic review process, the focus of this session is specifically on the methods and results sections of manuscripts. The methods and results sections of a research article provide information used to judge the study’s validity and while evaluating the theoretical development and contribution may be similar across a wide range of studies, the wide variety and application of research methods presents unique challenges for reviewers. The purpose of this session is to provide potential reviewers with tools to better assess the methodology in substantive articles. The session will consist of two parts: the first half of the session will be devoted to a panel discussion where panelists answer questions from the organizer and audience members about general methods issues encountered in the review process and the second half of the session will be devoted to methods-specific topics (e.g., multilevel, meta-analysis, endogeneity) with recommendations for evaluation and suggestions as a reviewer.