BMC Ophthalmology is delighted to endorse the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group’s free online peer review course entitled Translating Critical Appraisal of a Manuscript into Meaningful Peer Review. The course has been developed as a resource for health professionals who are serving, or wish to serve as peer reviewers of biomedical literature.

Although the course and its content were designed with ophthalmologists, optometrists, and other vision practitioners in mind, it is applicable and useful to health professionals from all specialities and those who participate in peer review of biomedical literature generally.

Course organiser Kay Dickersin tells us “The Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group online course on meaningful peer review offers clear instruction on how to critique studies of different designs, so as to be a more effective peer reviewer. Examples are all from ophthalmology and the speakers are well known to the eye and vision community. The course is comprehensive, covering topics such as what a journal editor is looking for in a peer reviewer, as well as basic statistics. It is structured so that individual lectures can be viewed as needed for peer review, or the entire course can be viewed from start to finish. Regardless of learning preferences, once an individual has registered for the course, he or she can revist the lectures again and again as desired.”

BioMed Central and BMC Ophthalmology are champions of high quality peer review as we recognise its importance in keeping the scientific record accurate. We are happy to endorse this course in its aim of keeping peer review standards high.